Crisp and Chewy French Almond Macarons

Preheat an oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and very lightly grease with a little butter. Combine the almonds, sugar, egg whites, and vanilla extract in a food processor and pulse the mixture until it has taken on the texture of a very coarse paste. Turn the food processor on high speed and blend the paste for 2 minutes, until it is very smooth and thick. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a wide tip and pipe the batter into uniform, 1-inch mounds on the parchment-lined baking sheet. You can draw a template onto the parchment paper if you want the biscuits to be precise, however, home-made biscuits do not want to look like they are made from a machine. Allow the batter to rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Bake the macaroons for 12 minutes. Remove the hot macaroons to a wire rack and cool to room temperature and dust with the confectioners’ sugar before serving. The biscuits are best eaten as soon as possible if you have to store them place into an airtight box.