Preparing the Batter
Blend the sugar and almond flour for 30 seconds or until combined. Measure out the confectioner' sugar and the almond, preferably with a kitchen scale, and add them into a food processor. Pulse them for a few seconds until they are completely blended. You can also do this with a blender.
Sift the almond-sugar mixture. Place a fine, mesh sieve over a large mixing bowl, then pour the almond-sugar into it. Gently tap the side of the sieve to sift the almond-sugar into the bowl. If you have more than 2 tablespoons (29.6 ml) (30 grams) of almond-sugar left in the sieve, grind what's left in the sieve back up and sift it back into the bowl.
Beat the egg white and salt until they are stiff and glossy. Place the eggs and salt into a clean, dry, grease-free mixer. Beat them on medium for 1 minute, then 3 minutes on high or until stiff, glossy peaks form. If you can turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites don't move, they're done! You can also do this with a food processor fitted with whisks.
Fold in the sifted granulated sugar into the eggs. Sift the 3 tablespoons (40 grams; 1.4 oz) of granulated sugar first. Fold it into the beaten eggs with a rubber spatula, 1 tablespoon (14.8 ml) (15 grams; 0.53 oz) at a time. Do not add in the almond-sugar mixture in this step.
Fold in the almond-sugar mixture with a rubber spatula. Pour the almond-sugar into the bowl. Gently fold it in using your rubber spatula, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. You want it to be smooth, sticky, and glossy. Do not over mix. Fold it no more than 50 times.
Coloring the Batter
Divide the batter into bowls. How many bowls you divide the batter into depends on ho many colors you want your macarons. You should do this even if you want multiple colors in the same macaron.
Stir in 1 to 2 drops of gel food coloring into each bowl. You can add more color if you want to, but start with 1 to 2 drops first; gel food coloring is very concentrated and a little bit goes a long way. You can add some flavoring too, but it is best to save that for the filling. Make sure that you use gel food coloring and not liquid food coloring. Liquid food coloring can change the batter's consistency and ruin the macarons.
Let the batter rest for 10 to 30 minutes. During this time, you can prepare your choice of filling so that it will be ready. You can also set up the baking trays with macaron templates. You can find pre-printed templates in the baking section of an arts and crafts store.
Fill the piping bags with a separate color of batter. Cut the tips off of each piping bag, then insert a ½-inch (1.27-centimeter) round tip. Place the bag into tall glasses and told the edges over the rims. Pour one color of batter into each bag, making sure to scrape the bowls clean with a rubber spatula. Clean the rubber spatula between colors to prevent mixing. Do not cut the ends off or add the ½-inch (1.27-centimeter) round tips if you want multicolored macarons.
Insert thee bags into a larger bag if you want multicolored macarons. Cut the end off of a large piping bag and insert a 3-part coupler. Place three of your filled bags into the larger bag. Pull their ends down through the coupler (one through each hole), then cut the tips off. Inert a ½-inch (1.27-centimeter) round tip into the coupler.
Piping the Batter
Line 2 to 3 baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Try to use the ones with printed macaron templates. If you can't find any, then plain silicone baking mats will do.
Pipe the batter onto the mats. Hold the tip perpendicular to the mat, then squeeze out small circles of batter, making sure to fill the template. If you weren't able to find any templates, make the circles smaller than you want the finished macarons to be. About 1½ to 2 inches (3.81 to 5.08 centimeters) would be ideal.
Tap the baking sheets to get rid of any air bubbles. If your shells got points after you piped them out, simply smooth them down with a wet finger.
Add a sprinkle of colored sugar for texture, if desired. You can also use ground almonds or a dash of ground cinnamon instead. Try to match the decoration to the color of the macaron. For example, pink sugar will look great on pink macarons. You can also use silver stars or flakes will on purple macarons, and gold flakes on teal.
Allow the macarons to rest for 45 to 60 minutes. During this time, the batter will spread and harden. Keep in mind, however, that macaron shells may sometimes need to rest longer, especially if it is humid. If the shell is still sticky, it needs to rest longer. If it's no longer sticky, you can proceed to the next step.
Baking and Finishing the Macarons
Preheat your oven to 325°F (163°C).
Bake the macarons for 10 minutes. Depending on the size of the oven, you may need to do this one baking sheet at a time. Halfway through the baking time, it would be a good idea to rotate the pan. This way, if your oven doesn't heat evenly, you can be sure that your macarons get evenly baked. Don't worry about removing the silicon mat, especially if it says that it is oven-proof. Silicon is made to withstand very high temperatures.
Allow the macarons to cool completely on the baking sheet. While your first batch of macarons cools, you can work on cooling the next one. Once the macarons have cooled, you can pop them off of the baking sheet. Handle them with care as they will be very fragile.
Prepare your buttercream filling. Prepare a batch of plain buttercream filling first, then divide it up into batches, one for each color of macaron. Add some flavoring to the buttercream, such as chocolate, raspberry, or strawberry. Use 1 to 2 drops of gel food coloring to tint the buttercream. Match the flavor of the filling to the color of the shell. Try peppermint for green or blue macarons, and lemon for yellow. Because of how sweet the shells are, consider making the filling less-sweet than you normally would. You can also add a dash of salt to it to help cut the sweetness instead. You can also use other fillings instead of buttercream, such as: apple butter, butterscotch sauce, chocolate ganache, lemon curd, jam or marmalade, etc.
Fill and assemble the macarons. Turn half of the macaron upside down. Add about 1 teaspoon of filling to each upside down cookie. Cover them with the remaining cookies, right side up. Let the filling set before serving the cookies. Don't press down on the top and bottom of the macarons when sandwiching them, or you will risk breaking them. Instead, hold them by the edges, and gently mush them together.
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