Pumpkin French Macarons

Raise your hand if you’re a fall and pumpkin obsessed freak liiike me?

Who doesn’t love the changing of seasons? I’m all for chillier weather, cozy clothes, all the best hot drinks, spiced bakes! My list of love for fall is endless. Pumpkin is my absolute fave and I was SO excited to make these little cuties.

I feel like fall really snuck up on me this year. My birthday happened at the beginning of the month, then work got super busy. I’ve also been helping my aunt with chocolate decorating again for my cousin’s wedding! So much fun.

October flew by before I knew it, now we’re already a week away from Halloween! Usually I have enough time to come up with an awesome costume and soak in all the pumpkin glory.

So, in order to catch up, this past weekend I did all the fall things! I made these babes, pumpkin banana bread (yaaaas), I went to the pumpkin patch, carved my ‘lil pumpkin, AND roasted the pumpkin seeds. Such a successful weekend on the pumpkin front. Now I just need to watch my fave Halloween movies.

Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons, and I just love everything about Halloween. Of course, all of the spooky baking fun is just the beeest.  If you remember these adorbs Spider cookies, and these ghoulish Ghost cupcakes, I obviously like to haunt it up here on the blog.

These are not only super adorable, but they’re also so yummy! The shells have a good amount of spice in them, and the filling is SO fall.

Okay, sorry. How many times can I use the word fall in one post??

Macarons: (Adapted from this blog)

100 grams almond flour
100 grams powdered sugar
2 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1-2 drops orange food gel dye

Filling:

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
1-3 tablespoons pumpkin puree (to taste)
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Chocolate chips  (for the stems)

Macarons: Prepare two baking sheets with parchment. Sift together the powdered sugar, almond flour and pie spice. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and salt, and continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form. Add the dye and mix until distributed. By hand, carefully fold in the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a #10 wilton plain tip. Pipe in pumpkin shapes, and tap the trays to let out air bubbles. Set aside and allow to dry for at least half an hour until no longer tacky to the touch. Bake at 300 degrees for 18 minutes, rotating the pans part way through. Pull off the parchment carefully and match them up.

Filling: In your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese. Add in the pumpkin puree and milk, and mix until incorporated. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and the pie spice. Taste and adjust things as needed. Fill the macs, sandwich them and top them with the chocolate chip stems.

So there ya have it! SO perfect for (dare I say it agaiiiin) FALL.

I also love that hand piping them, they’re all unique! Just like real pumpkins.

They’re cute. They’re delish. And they’re so much fun!