Apple Pie Macarons with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Between last year and Pinterest, I was able to remember that Chiara is a fall megafan. Since she was recently in Paris I immediately decided to make apple pie macarons and use what I could of the caramel frosting (from July) as the filling. One problem: I couldn't really find a good macaron recipe that had apple pie spice in it (I finally broke down and got a container off Amazon). You'd think it'd be easy; however, most recipes I came across either had another source for the apple flavor in the macarons (like freeze-dried apples - no idea where to find those) or had the apple flavor in the filling instead of the shells. Finally, I found a recipe on The Macaron Queen for apple pie macarons.

Caramel Apple Cookies

I don't know why but I keep forgetting that my cousin/bestie/fellow September Girl Chiara loves fall. The flavors, the fashion, the scenery outside - it's her favorite time of year. But it's one fact about her that I can't seem to remember. Fortunately, I do remember that she loves caramel apples. I even have the pictures to prove it:

Taken at the Washington State Fair in 2014

So when I decided I was going to bake her a present this year I immediately started keeping an eye out for caramel apple desserts on my Pinterest feed that were giftable. I decided on Caramel Apple Cookies from the blog House of Yumm.