Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place ground almonds in a medium bowl and Sift icing sugar on top bowl.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy.
Gradually add the granulated sugar, and continue to beat, on medium-high speed, until the meringue just holds stiff peaks.
Then, in three additions, sift the ground almond/sugar mixture over the meringue.
When folding, cut through the meringue and then fold up and over, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Once the almond mixture is completely folded into the meringue, pipe the Macarons.
Fill a pastry bag with about half the batter.
Pipe about 1 - 1 1/2 inch (3 - 4 cm) rounds onto the parchment paper.
Then gently tap the baking sheet on the counter to break any air bubbles.
Let the Macarons sit at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes or until the tops of the Macarons are no longer tacky.
Meanwhile preheat your oven to 325 degree F (160 degree C) with the oven racks in the top and bottom third of the oven.
Bake the cookies (two sheets at a time) for about 14 - 16 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom, front to back, about halfway through baking.
The Macarons are done when you can just barely separate the cookies from the parchment paper
Remove from oven and let the Macarons cool completely on the baking sheet placed on a wire rack.
To assemble the Macarons, take two cookies and sandwich them together with your filling (place filling on flat side of cookie).
Popular choices are a Swiss buttercream frosting, lemon curd, chocolate ganache, jam, or dulce de leche.
While you can serve the Macarons the day they are made, these cookies really need to mature for a day or two in the refrigerator.
Best served at room temperature.