Decided to make some green turtle pistachio macarons for the green contest since I have a macaron addiction and my favorite color is green. (see pi macaron instructable here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Pi-Espresso-Macaron/). Enjoy!

Step 1:

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
3 tbs white granulated sugar
1/3 cup ground pistachio
3/4 cup ground almonds
1 cup confectioner's sugar
green food coloring 3-4 drops

green luster dust + paintbrush
butter cream filling/ganache

materials:
baking sheet + parchment paper
rubber spatula
metal bowls
stand mixer
pastry bag or ziplock bag

Pre-prep ingredients: sift almond flour, ground pistachios, confectioner's sugar into a bowl. allow egg whites to come to room temperature. line baking sheets with parchment paper

Step 2: Beat Egg Whites Until Stiff

beat egg whites on low speed until frothy (about 2 minutes). gradually add 3 tbs granulated sugar and increase speed of mixer. beat until egg whites are stiff, about 5-6 minutes. while mixing add 3-4 drops green food coloring.

*note it helps when your stand mixer is green too : )

Step 3: Fold in Sifted Dry Ingredients

fold in sifted ingredients, a quarter at a time. once all dry ingredients have been incorporated, turn the spatula about 30-40 times until batter resembles magma. pour batter into a ziplock bag or pastry bag.

Step 4: Pipe Out Fun Shapes

using a half inch tip (or cutting a half inch hole in ziplock bag), pipe out turtle shapes. alternatively, pipe out round turtle backs and tiny feet.

rap pan on countertop several times to release air bubbles. preheat oven to 325F. allow cookies to dry on stove top until you can touch top of the cookie and nothing sticks to your finger.

reduce temperature to 300F and bake for 10 minutes. reduce temperature to 275F and bake for an additional 10 minutes. smaller cookies can be removed after 5 minutes to avoid browning. (it might be best to separate pans for small cookies and larger cookies as the larger ones take slightly longer to bake).

Step 5: Assemble and Decorate!

using butter cream (see https://www.instructables.com/id/Pi-Espresso-Macaron/ for a buttercream recipe) or ganache, assemble turtles. for turtle pictured below, sandwich two macarons together with buttercream/ganache. insert legs and head into filling to stick. decorate with luster dust. use an 1/8th inch tip to pipe out eyes and mouth. admire their cuteness!