I was hoping to have this post up last week, but my computer decided to stick a wrench in those plans. I turned my computer on on Tuesday morning and had a very ominous warning that my computer's fan was not working. Like any good computer owner, I decided to go to work and not worry about it, hoping that it would just heal itself. Computers can do that, right?

Sadly, I came home and the fan was still not working. I was able to start my computer anyways, but ran the risk of my processor overheating. The last thing I did before I completely ruined my computer was to upload the video of me making the macarons to YouTube. Between that video and the photos I somehow decided not to delete off of my memory card, I actually have a post for you today!

And this one I am really excited about! I have been wanting to do something fun with macarons for the holidays, so why not start with Halloween?! These Halloween Macarons were actually really easy to make, maybe easier than decorating cookies because they are so much smaller.

I started by making my favorite Laduree Macaron recipe. When the batter was just about mixed together, I split it into 3 bowls, dyed one orange, one black, and one white. Yes, I actually dyed the batter white even though it's pretty white already. The white food coloring really helped brighten and lighten up the batter, making it perfect for my mummies!

After the macarons were baked and cooled, I got to work decorating! The orange macarons turned into Jack-O-Lanterns. The black macarons turned into spider webs. And you know what happened to the white ones.

I could explain all that in a post....but wouldn't it be better to watch me do that? Yeah...I thought so.

Here is the recipe for the macarons: Laduree Macaron Recipe & Video

I made the full recipe (normally I just make a third for 12 macarons), and then split the batter to make 3 different colors, or about 12 of each.

Here is the recipe for the royal icing: The Best Royal Icing for Decorating Cookies

Because the macarons are smaller than your average cookie, I had a lot of icing left over. You could probably halve this recipe and still have enough. Here is how I divided the icing:

Approx. 1/3 of icing in black flood consistency icing (web background, mummies eyes, and background of jack-o-lantern)
Approx. 1/3 of icing in orange flood consistency icing (jack-o-lantern)
Approx. 1/4 of icing in white flood consistency icing (mummy, spider web)
Remaining in black piping consistency icing (spider)

You could fill the macarons with just about whatever you want, I chose to fill it with dark chocolate ganache. You can find the recipe I used here. But, nutella, buttercream, or a jam would also work well.

Let me know if you try out these Halloween macarons, or even if you attempt the designs on a normal cookie! I would love to see your creations!