ABC - Double Chocolate French Macarons

This month's ABC recipe was a really good challenge: French Macarons! I had only recently eaten my first French Macaron, from Trader Joe's. It's in their frozen food section. I believe it's imported from Europe. The taste was OK. I can't really say that I understand the big hype around it. Making these yourself seems to be one of the biggest challenges that mankind has ever faced (according to the internet anyway). I did some "online research". Given the many tricks one has to employ to create one of these treats, I was ready for the challenge (and I hope all the ABC bakers are as well).

Double Chocolate *Mocha* French Macarons with almond chocolate spread filling

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Tender Loving Crackle Cookies

I love crackle cookies and when I saw Christina Marsigliese's TLC cookies blog post, I knew I had to pick them for our ABC group's June Challenge. I've made this type of cookies before, using a Nick Malgieri recipe which were awesome, so I knew the bar was set high. Christina's recipe did not disappoint.

I didn't change much in the recipe except I added 1 tsp of instant espresso powder for a little mocha flavor (and that's coming from a girl who doesn't even drink or like coffee) and I used 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips.

Fudgy + chewy = yummy!

And pretty too!

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.