Citrus-Thyme Macaroons

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Almond Macaroons

A&M's Testing Notes: What a fun, decidedly different macaroon! I don’t have a stand mixer, so I used my hand mixer, which worked fine. Noting drbabs’s concern about adding too much liquid from the zest, I used...

What a fun, decidedly different macaroon! I don’t have a stand mixer, so I used my hand mixer, which worked fine. Noting drbabs’s concern about adding too much liquid from the zest, I used a standard zester, then chopped the zest on a surface on which I’d put an additional tablespoon of sugar. By doing this instead of using a microplane, you could probably add more zest. Next time I’d grind toasted almonds instead of using almond meal, as the almond flavor rather disappeared. The combination of tart, savory and sweet works really well, however, to produce a tasty, original treat. - AntoniaJames

drbabs's Notes: While I was thinking about almond macaroons, I thought of some other flavor combinations that I like, and decided to try the combination of citrus and thyme. I used the zest from one orange...

While I was thinking about almond macaroons, I thought of some other flavor combinations that I like, and decided to try the combination of citrus and thyme. I used the zest from one orange and one lemon, but I think meyer lemon zest would be equally wonderful. The trick here is to add just enough zest to give flavor, but not so much that the batter becomes watery, or the cookies will be very thin and hard to remove from the cookie sheets. I followed some of the guidelines for macarons: Use your oldest egg whites (Some people suggest letting egg whites sit uncovered at room temperature for a day before using them. I didn't do that.), insulated cookie sheets (You may want to double your up if they're thin.) and let the cookies rest before putting them into the oven.