Abby Carter was born in the Bossier Parish area but grew up in Arkansas. Life brought her back to the area and thirteen years ago she met her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Carter, when he was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base. The United States Air Force has had them and their four children living all over the United States but they are now stationed back at Barksdale. Carter has always loved baking, so in 2021 she decided to take on the challenge of perfecting French macarons.

“I saw Food Network and a guy on there said if you can master macarons, you can do anything in the pastry world and I said ‘I am going to do it,’” Abby recalled.

The process of creating French macarons is a challenge. Once you make your batter and pipe them on your sheet, they must rest for around two hours to completely dry before baking. Though baking only takes fifteen minutes, once they’ve cooled down and filling is added, they must be refrigerated for 24 hours.

“It was so difficult when I first started,” Carter said. “Just throwing batch after batch away because I couldn’t figure it out and it took like seven or eight months.”

Following the many trials and errors of creating delicate pastries, once she finally perfected the art, Abby decided to take a leap of faith and create Abby’s Macs in 2022. This small business specializes in homemade custom macarons that come in many different flavors, shapes, and designs.

All of Abby’s Macs are gluten-free, from peanut butter and jelly to strawberry or salted caramel to cinnamon toast crunch.

She offers seasonal boxes that make great gifts like their back-to-school box or even holiday boxes to get you in the spirit for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Outside of traditionally shaped macarons, you can also get custom macaron cakes. These have recently been the most popular request from Abby’s Macs and they can also be challenging.

“The cakes are the ones that make me the most nervous just because I never know how it’s going to turn out,” said Carter. “I didn’t think the cakes would take off but it’s fun and they’re my favorite.”

This small business is a one-woman show that thrives on creativity and the relationships she has made through her macarons.

“I love to bake and I especially like the relationships that I’ve built…random people that I don’t know that I end up baking for several times and then you feel like you’re a part of their birthdays and graduations and things like that,” Carter said. “I love the personal aspect of it. The connection part is my favorite.”

Carter makes her macarons out of her home kitchen and hopes to one day be able to bake from a commercial kitchen a couple of days a week. This would allow her the space and ability to bake from more than one oven at a time.

“That would be the next step,” Carter said. “Big picture would be to have a storefront or something like that. That would be my dream.”

These delicious macarons can be ordered from her Facebook page where you can directly message her or see her contact information listed. You will also find a full menu with pricing for various packages and flavors that Abby’s Macs offers.

“I’ve gotten to know a lot of people through my small business just because of word of mouth and when people share my macs with other people,” Carter said. “I don’t think it would be the same in a bigger city but here people are so nice. I really enjoy being here.”

With the growth of small businesses in Bossier, Abby’s Macs makes our beautiful Parish a little sweeter.