May 26, 2023

Amanda Halsey grew up in an entrepreneurial family.

Her parents have owned a business for 30 years, and she always knew she wanted to do the same. When she was 20, she opened a coffee shop in Yankton and began experimenting with baking macarons.

When she stepped away from the coffee shop, she took the love of the little meringue-based sandwich cookies with her.

“I would go to my job and give them to people, and they would say, ‘You should pursue this,’” Halsey said. “I was getting a consistent product down. I just kept making cookies and giving them to people, and then I said, ‘OK, it’s time to promote this.’”

She moved to Sioux Falls a few years ago and decided the time was right to start a business. Monday’s Macarons was born. She was baking out of her home kitchen for bridal showers, birthday parties and other small events.

“Two legislative sessions ago, they made it a little easier for people who have home kitchens to do shelf-stable products and sell them in retail spaces,” Halsey said. “I was working at The Source, and that was the first place I sold them retail.”

Since then, she has added a few more places, and this year, she’s selling every Saturday at the Falls Park Farmers Market.

“Getting out in the morning on Saturdays and having people with bright, smiling faces coming to see you specifically is so rewarding,” Halsey said. “I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

She said perfecting making macarons was a bit of a learning curve.

“I’m always up for a challenge,” she said. “The first time I tried them, I was like, these are cool. I watched a couple YouTube videos and obviously failed many times in the process.”

Macarons are the perfect blend of left and right brain activities, she said.

“I’m not really an artist, but color theory is super fun – mixing the colors and matching the flavor to it,” Halsey said. “They are so versatile. I can put my creative spirit in it, but it also fits that need for me to have exact systems – the right measurements. It covers two sides of my brain in one product.”

She sells 12 flavors every week, and customers can enter a drawing to suggest new flavors – and then win a dozen macarons if their flavor is chosen. Last week, a customer suggested Scotcheroo macarons – and Halsey figured out how to make them.

“It was a little bit of a challenge, which I like,” she said.

Her favorite flavor is lemon raspberry.

“You don’t expect the fruity, citrusy flavors when you’re getting a baked good. I like that because it’s a little different,” she said.

This week, customers also can find maple cinnamon macarons.

The macarons are gluten-free, though they are made in her home kitchen. “I take every precaution to make sure there is no cross-contamination,” she said.

Halsey takes custom orders on Facebook and Instagram, and said she loves doing weddings.