Preheat your oven to 300°F (or 275°F for convection). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Sift together almond flour and confectioners sugar into a bowl, sifting at least twice for a smooth batter.

In a heatproof bowl, combine egg whites, white sugar, and optional egg white powder. Whisk over a bain-marie until 140°F, then beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold the sifted dry ingredients into the meringue until the batter flows like lava and passes the figure 8 test.

Pipe small rounds onto prepared baking sheets and let them sit for 8 minutes to 1 hour to form a skin.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are firm and the shells look slightly puffed.

While cooling, prepare the maple buttercream by creaming the unsalted butter, then mix in sugar, maple syrup, heavy cream, and ground pecans until smooth.

Once shells are cool, dip tops in crushed pecans, pipe buttercream onto bottoms, and sandwich the macaron tops.

Let assembled macarons refrigerate overnight to mature.