Macarons vs. Macaroons + The Simple Baker Silicone Baking Mat for Macarons Review

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the simple baker mat — I was given this product in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Macarons vs. macaroons? To be honest I had no idea what type of cookies either of these were. I had heard of macaroons and just assumed macarons was just an alternate spelling. Boy, was I wrong. I did some research and found out just how different these two cookies really are.

Macarons

French
Meringue based
Derived from the Italian word that means meringue
Easily melts in the mouth
Wide variety of flavors
Smooth top
Usually filled with ganache, buttercream or jam
A sandwiched cookie (filling between two cookies)
Usually food coloring is involved

Macaroons

Comes from the Italian word meaning paste
Usually baked on edible rice paper
Resemble no bake cookies (think dough like clumps)
Usually made with ground almonds or coconut

Told ya. These guys couldn't be more different. Out of the two macarons seem to be the more complicated of the two to make. There's just more to them than squishing ingredients into ball shapes.

In a typical French Macaron Recipe there's a lot of high speed whisking, piping with pastry bags, baking the cookies, and then filling the cookies. At times it can be hard to eye the exact same size while piping the batter for each macaron but products like The Simple Baker Silicone Macaron Baking Mat ($18) make it a breeze.

The Simple Baker Silicone Macaron Baking Mat was made in mind for those that love to make macarons. Each half sheet mat is preprinted with the most popular macaron sized circle templates. To make it even easier each circle template has a target in the center to guide your piping. For extra fun there's even an optional ear template on each circle just in case you feel up to making your kids bear macarons or mickey cookies. SO fun!

Not only is The Simple Baker Silicone Macaron Baking Mat great for macarons it's great for any kind of baking. Just like other silicone baking mats no oil or butter is needed because baked goods just slide right off without that extra fat.

Plus it's reusable unlike parchment or wax paper. It washes easy with just soap and water, can be used in the freezer, microwave, or oven, and helps heat distribution in the oven. Today I was using it to cool some baked goods. It's one nifty multipurpose silicone mat. It's great!!

Have you ever had a macarons or macaroons?

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Comments

Ann
June 12, 2016 at 6:32 pm
I worked at a bakery for about two years, many many years ago. We sold macarOOns (both “regular” and chocolate-dipped), so I am quite familiar with those. MacarOns, however… I don’t think I’ve even seen one, outside of magazines and the Internet!
I am curious about them, though. People seem to be just in love with macarons! And I actually have been looking into buying a silicone macaron baking mat, just to try my hand at these. (I think that a little assortment of homemade macarons would make a great gift idea!) After reading your post, I think I’ll revisit Amazon and see if I can find a good deal on a decent mat.
Thank you for the post! 🙂
tp keane
May 23, 2016 at 6:47 pm
what a great baking sheet. I had no idea of the difference between these two treats either.
Mike
February 3, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Ha, I had no idea there were two different types! Good one, Krystle. I prefer the double “oo” cookie 🙂
- Krystle
  February 7, 2015 at 9:09 pm
  I had no idea either Mike. Craziness 🙂
Jo-Anne
January 28, 2015 at 5:59 pm
They look so nice, I like to eat macarons but have never tired to bake them
- Krystle
  January 31, 2015 at 7:42 pm
  I’ve never had either of them. I need to try them. They look yummy!