Macaroon vs. Macaron

Who knew one little "o" could make such a difference. This may seem like a ridiculously anal and unnecessary analysis, but believe me, I need to make the difference clear.

Briefly:

A macaroon is a sweet little cookie/confection that is made with either egg white and coconut, or an almond paste. The kind of macaroon most commonly found in the U.S. is made with coconut, and most often you will be able to find a variety -- half dipped in chocolate, different nuts mixed into the batter (almonds, pecans, etc.), and the only one I will enjoy: the one with chocolate chips mixed into it. They are a bit crusty on the outside but very chewy when you take a bite into it - if you enjoy the taste and texture of coconut shavings, you will love macaroons.

A macaron on the other hand is a dainty, traditional French pastry made of egg whites, sugar, icing powder, and almond powder. Macarons are petite sandwich type confections with a thin layer of filling/ganache in between. Flavors range all over the place - from pistaccio to dark chocolate raspberry (my one attempt at making this was a FAIL), jasmine mango, vanilla, and the list goes on and on. It is quite the mission to find a decent place to make macarons in the greater Boston area (I would say Aroa on Washington St. has the best ones yet), and this is actually how my pet peeve began. After my study abroad experience in France (why did I have to know what French macarons taste like??), I began my search for comparable ones in the states. After researching on Google, Yelp, and other sites on the web, I noticed a lot of misleading comments - what was happening was that people were recommending places that had amazing macarons such as Mike's Pastry, when they actually meant to say macaroons. I really hope someone understands my frustration here. It is probably because I am not a big fan of coconut and don't really care much for macaroons, but I hold macarons as one of the most delicious things I enjoy eating.

So with all that being said, here are some pictures so that you can put an image to the name.

The macaroon:

The macaron:

Serious Eats has got a pretty down pat analysis. Read more if you're interested!

And if you've tried both, which do you prefer?