Greek Almond Macaroons with Chocolate Mousse Filling

I've been wanting to make my Greek Almond macaroons, or amygdalota as they are called in Greece, with some type of a filling.  In Greece I had them with mastic filling (resin from the mastic trees on Chios island).  It's a sweet spoon dessert that's served on a spoon over ice cold water, mostly during the summer hot months.  It's chewy and very sweet. That's why you need a glass of cold water to accompany it and wash it down.  Unfortunately, I didn't think of bringing a jar of the sweet mastic dessert back with me.  And so far, I haven't figured out how to make that mastic spoon dessert ... well not yet any way.  

Since everyone in my family loves chocolate including my granddaughter -- she is over a year old and has become my newest taste tester in my kitchen -- I thought of making my chocolate mousse filling and use that.  Also, this time I thought of using almond meal instead of grinding almonds for the  cookies.  I used Bob's Red Mill almond meal.  It's a little easier and it doesn't make any difference in the cookies, either you use almond meal or finely ground almonds (if you'd rather use fine ground almonds, here is the link for that recipe: http://greekfusioncuisine.blogspot.com/2013/12/greek-almond-macaroons-ergolavi-or.html).  Also, both recipes are gluten free. 

And voila -- the cookies came out tasting chewy, as that is their trademark, and the chocolate mousse filling came out creamy.  So here is my take on Greek almond macaroons filled with chocolate mousse.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients (Makes 23 sandwiched servings – approx. 1.5 oz each )

3 cups almond meal

1 2/3 cups sugar

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Chocolate mousse filling

1 envelope  dream whip

6 tbsp. icing sugar

3 tbsp. cocoa powder

Directions:

Melted butter for the cookie sheets and the palms of your hands to roll the cookies -- about 3 tbsp.

Beat the egg whites with the sugar. Add the almond meal, and vanilla. Mix well together. Grease 3 cookie sheets generously with butter. Also, grease your palms with butter while shaping the cookies. Shape them into 1 1/4" balls. Roll in slivered almonds. Place on cookie sheet far apart. Cookies will spread.

Bake at 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes till the edges are brown and they are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven. Let them cool and place them in an airtight container or they will dry out. 

This recipe will make about 46 cookies.  Sandwiched together with the chocolate mousse you get about 23 cookies.

Chocolate mousse:

Beat 1 envelope of dream whip topping according to package directions. When soft peaks form, add the cocoa powder and icing sugar. Beat well till it's all incorporated. Refrigerate.

When the cookies are cooled take one tablespoon (approx.) of the chocolate mousse and spread on bottom of cookie. Take another cookie and sandwich together. When done, refrigerate them in air tight containers.

Nutrition Facts (the nutritional value is per sandwiched cookie--each cookie alone is about 80 cal)

Serving Size 1 serving (40.2 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 174

Calories from Fat 84

Total Fat 9.3g

Saturated Fat 1.1g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 6mg

Potassium 155mg4%

Total Carbohydrates 21.3g

Dietary Fiber 2.4g

Sugars 17.9g

Protein 4.4g

It has been a long time since I published anything on my Greek Fusion Cuisine blog.  But it’s been a busy and yet wonderful summer.  Not that I didn’t cook or barbeque.  I did plenty of those.  But we had such wonderful weather, that I didn’t want to be inside in front of a computer.  And, truly, I haven’t forgotten you, dear followers. 

Our summer this year was amazing.  I don’t ever remember a summer in Michigan this beautiful since I moved here many years ago.  This year I was not able to go to Greece and enjoy the beautiful weather there.  But I think the Greek summer came here to visit me.  The weather was warm, it reached to 104 degrees (F)on some days, and the sky was clear and blue.  The only thing that I was missing in my back yard was the Mediterranean  Sea. 

This year my husband decided to plant a garden in our back yard.  We had an abundance of zucchinis, squashes, banana peppers, grape tomatoes and tomatoes.  He also planted some jalapeno peppers, which I don’t eat.  I find them too hot for me.  I was going to try to make a jalapeno dip with Greek yogurt, but it didn’t happen (stay tuned for that recipe; I’m sure I’m going to try to make it one of these days).  As you can see from the pictures the zucchinis grew quite large which I ended up making zucchini moussaka with them (that recipe on one of my next posts).  And as for the banana peppers I washed them, pricked them with a fork and barbequed them.  Then drizzled some olive oil and red wine vinegar on them and ate them as a side dish.  This type of dish is very common in Greece in the summer.  My mother used to fry them all the time.  This type of food was a staple on our table every Saturday during the summer months. 

For fruits we ended up eating plenty of strawberries and blueberries with which I made a mixed berry sauce that I used on top of ice cream or some plain Greek yogurt (I prefer the Fage yogurt).  The berry sauce stays well in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.  But it didn’t last that long in my household. 

Here is a first tease with the mixed berry sauce recipe to entice your appetite.  Stay tuned for more recipes.    

Our garden crop

 

 

Some funny shaped strawberries that I bought.