Matcha Macarons with White Chocolate Ganache

I am absolutely obsessed with Korean dramas right now. It's so bad for my health because I stay up all night watching them. I just finished a 20 episode one today, that are 1 hour long each in 2 days! My eyes are about to shrivel up and die in its sockets. I bet I'm going to sleep through my bus stop today, which I have done too many times and walked home to spare the bus fare back to my original stop :(

I can't even explain why I watch them. The love triangles drive me crazy, the acting is terrible, it makes me cringe when they try to speak English, the overdone story of rich boy gets poor puppy eyed girl drives me nuts.... I could go on forever but I just can't stay away from them!!  Somebody pull me away from the TV!!!

Now that I don't have my trusty KA mixer, I'm not in much of a mood to bake. I want to bake bread but the thought of kneading makes my arm willy-nilly :P Here's a macaron recipe I did before I left for LA (tweaked from Piña Colada Macarons). My macaron feet looks soo good now.

Also I have a giveaway (click!) this week. Don't forget to enter!

Matcha Macarons with White Chocolate Ganache

makes about 25 macarons
notes below ***

Macaron Shells
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
2.5 tsp matcha powder
2 large egg whites, ages 2 day in fridge and 1 day at room temp
5 tbsp granulated sugar

White Chocolate Ganache Filling
6oz white chocolate, chopped (or use chips, roughly 1 cup)
5 tbsp heavy cream

• Filling:

1. Heat heavy cream in a small pan until it is just about to simmer. Pour over chopped white chocolate (in a bowl) and let that sit for 1 min
2. Then mix until you have a nice creamy consistency. Let it cool until okay to touch
3. Fill a piping bag and place into the refrigerator until ready to pipe

• Macarons:

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mat and get a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch plain tip prepared
2. In a food processor pulse almond flour, matcha powder and powdered sugar until mixed and fluffy
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat egg whites with the whisk attachment on medium low for 2 mins, gradually adding in the sugar.
4. Increase speed to 7 to whip for another 3 minutes and then at 8-10 for another 4 minutes. You should be getting a stiff meringue that you can make soft peaks with. Try not to over beat.
5. Fold the dry ingredients in 2 batches with a rubber spatula and make smooth sweeps to the bottom of the bowl. You do want to deflate the meringue and after about 40-50 foldings it should look glossy and when you drop some from your spatula to the batter, it takes about 10 secs for it to mold back into the mix. Don't over mix or it will a runny and watery mess!
6. Fill your pastry bag and pipe batter onto the prepared baking sheets in 3.5cm circles, spaced 1" apart. 
7. Rap the baking sheet a few times about 1 inch above the counter top to flatten the macarons and to get rid of bubbles. Let them rest at room temp for 45-60mins. The tops should be dry and nothing should stick to your finger if you poke them. 
8. Preheat your oven to 310 F. Bake for 16-18 mins each pan separately and rotating pans halfway. You can check they are done by lifting one macaron you can sacrifice. If the feet comes off, leave it in longer. You always want to overbake than underbake.
9. Let cool completely before removing them from the paper. Line up similar sized ones and pipe the chilled filling onto 1 shell. Sandwich together.
10. Let them sit in the fridge in a sealed container for at least 1 day before serving. Seriously!! They taste 100x better when the insides of the macaron shells soften a bit and the filling flavors come together

***

• I let the egg whites sit in the fridge longer (2 days) and let them rest outside for 2 days too
• I baked them at a longer temperature. But if you bake them too long, they will turn brown and won't keep green. You may want to use green food coloring
• It could be difficult to lift the macarons from the paper. When it has cooled for about 5-10mins, sprinkle some water on the baking tray under the parchment paper. The steam helps them unstick but peel them off quickly or they might get soggy