Macaron Brownie Bombs

I am usually really good with directions.

And 99% of the time, really good with common sense.

So when my coworkers said there was this really cool and beautiful nature walk just down the street that wrapped around the building and could be easily walked during lunch, I was intrigued to get hiking.

My work BFF Layla and I had spotted some people walking the trail every so often and finally one day we decided to do it.  We headed that direction, flats on our feet, determination in the air around us, and the desire to see beautiful nature in the middle of our hectic day.

Everything was fine and dandy as we walked the trail until… until it ended.  The little path just straight up stopped abruptly and beyond it there was slight foot-traffic trail embedded underneath all of the overgrown weeds and shrubs.  Layla and I kinda looked at each other confusedly, but decided to continue on.

Well, I don’t know what people’s definitions of “cool” and “beautiful” entail, because if this trail was considered beautiful in their eyes, their brain would probably explode when they saw a topless picture of Ryan Gosling.  Now that’s beautiful.  This trail.. or lack thereof.. was not.

First of all, the shrubs were all overgrown and prickly — those kinda shrubs that stick to you when you walk, no matter what you’re wearing.  Second of all, the “view” was basically a yellow, dead field with little snake holes dotted throughout, so it was more like a playing field for a crappy, real-life game of whack-a-mole… except instead of whacking moles, rattlesnakes were biting your ankles which meant you were sorely losing.

And third, it was basically a place where dragonflies came to die, as I spotted more dragonfly carcasses than I could count.  I figured the dragonflies were probably told by their friends that this was a cool place to check out, so they went and were like “dude, WTF, those people are insane and I’m never trusting their judgment again” and then they straight up keeled over and died because the trail was so lame.

Anyway, Layla and I ended up hoofing this trail in about a half hour and returned to work dripping with sweat, stuck with weedy stickers, the smell of dead dragonflies on our clothes.  We both made a mental note to never listen to exercise advice from our coworkers again, because clearly we were missing the beauty and coolness from the ever-so-popular trail.

I can think of one thing that pretty much everyone unanimously thinks is beautiful and cool: macarons.  Whether you think they’re too pretty to eat, too complicated to make, too special to have every day, special enough for everyday, or whether or not you’re human, you probably enjoy consuming macarons like I do.  I had my first macaron at Bouchon in NYC, and since then I’ve been dreaming of these crunchy, elegant cookie sandwiches.

However.. have you tried making macarons?  Duuuude, they are like rocket science.  Or maybe I’m just really stupid.  Whatever you think, it involves a precise science — measuring things to exact amounts, baking at a finite time and temperature.  Very exact.  And I am very… all over the place, the antithesis of a patient macaron.  So I just daydream of them.. and dream of stuffing them inside of brownie bombs.

You had to know this was coming.

I love the combination of textures in this bomb–the soft, chewy brownie surrounding the crispy, crunchy macaron and the smooth coating of white chocolate on the outside.  It tastes so sumptuous and decadent!

Macarons come in all kinds of flavors (personally, I’m partial to pistachio or the Fruity Pebbles kind from Dana’s Bakery), so feel free to experiment with different kinds stuffed inside of these fudgy, rich brownie bombs.  Orange and raspberry would be SO yummy, or try pistachio-stuffed bombs with a cherry-white chocolate coating for a fun twist on spumoni, one of my fave ice cream flavors.  You can find the miniature macarons in the frozen section at Trader Joe’s, or try picking up a dozen at specialty bakeries or supermarkets like Whole Foods and freezing them briefly before filling your bombs.

Have a delicious day!!

xo, Hayley