Mini Big Mac (aron).
French patisserie Chateau Blanc made mini macarons for Starbucks. The silver dollar-sized macarons are teeny and cute and make me want to coo over them as if they were little cookie pre-schoolers.
Then I get over myself and just eat them.
I am not a macaron connoisseur so I cannot expound on the finer nuances of these particular macarons, nor how they may compare against THE macaron, but I will say that I missed the desperate, delicate sighing "crackle" of the exterior that I've experienced before, found these to be slightly chewier than I'd expect, and didn't quite love the sponge-y (?) texture of the non-jam fillings.
But like I said, I just get over myself and eat them.
These are not "I want macarons so I am going to go to Starbucks" macarons. These are "I am in a meeting at Starbucks-my-conference-room-because-I-work-from-home. Oh, are those macarons? Ok, I'll buy the box and share with the other people in this meeting right now" macarons. Athough, they could be "I want macarons but there is no macaron-erie near me so I'm going to Starbucks" macarons.
By the way "macaronerie" should be a word.
There. Now it is.
A box of 12 includes two each of raspberry, pistachio, coffee, lemon, vanilla, and chocolate. The box costs $10 and will be available from December 13 to Christmas in Starbucks..es...s.
Design Nomad says
Oooh, this is good news for accessible macarons. I love Paulette macarons but the parking over there is a nightmare, so I eat them very rarely. Did you taste the mini macarons from Trader Joe's in their freezer section. $4.99 (!) for 12 minis, vanilla & choc. I like the vanilla ones , the chocolate are meh.
Sarah J. Gim says
Design Nomad: Never tried the macarons from Trader Joe's! From the freezer, though? I wonder if the freeze-then-that affects the crisp and the chewiness of the pastry, or the texture of the filling...?
Design Nomad says
It survived pretty well, I was surprised. I'd always prefer fresh ones, but in a pinch…
dawn says
reaaaaally ? starbucks is going to have this? well I hope that our litle tiny starbucks does too. I would buy these. I'm with you, sometimes the chewy middle is not so great--all depends on who or what makes them. I'm not really into chewy either, but love that outside crunch.
Sarah J. Gim says
dawn: Yeah! Starbucks will have them for a limited time Dec 13 - 25. Which kinda makes me wonder if they are all already baked and sealed and sitting in some warehouse somewhere. :| not fresh. oh well, not like I should care. Who knows how "freshly" fried cheetos are? ;)
catty says
I'm a bit of a macaron hussy and think that ALL macarons are amazing, whether they be from Starbuck or Paris. nom.
Diana says
Why do they have to come in boxes of 12? This is useless to me! I do not need 12 macarons! I need one! Errr... maybe two! Possibly three if I am feeling sorry for myself. But not 12! Never 12! 12 does not do a body good!
Sarah J. Gim says
catty: I suppose then, that it's good that at least these will be available everywhere, you macaron hussy, you.
diana: 12 is bad, true, but these macarons are, indeed, quite small. Although still, eating all 12 (like I almost did) is like the equivalent of a half dozen of the bigger, regular sized ones!
Jessi says
FYI, we've had several boxes in the household over the past week and we've noticed that they begin to crisp back up upon returning to room temperature. Perhaps not as crisp as fresh, locally made macarons, but much less just-chewy than the newly purchased boxes.
Sarah J. Gim says
Jessi: good point on letting them come to room temperature...since they ARE refrigerated (for the fillings i guess?)
albert says
The same things only sell for about 5 euro in malaysia. pls refer to the link below:
http://www.groupsmore.com/cities/penang/deals/fourseason-bakery