To Make the Macarons:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place a 1/2-inch round tip into a piping bag and set it inside a pint glass.
Place a sieve atop a medium bowl. Sift in the almond flour, powdered sugar and cookie crumbs. Work all of them through the sieve. You’ll end up with little bits in the sieve; discard those! Set the bowl aside.
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites, sugar, pinch of salt and peppermint extract. Beat until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. Add the food coloring and beat once more until combined. The mixture will be glossy and shiny.
Remove from the bowl from the stand-up mixer and in one batch, add the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. Fold the mixture with a spatula. Repeat just until the batter resembles the texture of lava. It took me about 30 folds to reach this consistency.
Transfer the macaron batter to the piping bag. Pipe the batter into 3/4-inch rounds, swirling the tip off to one side. You have to do this with a bit of flick of the wrist. Repeat until you’ve formed about 15 to 18 macarons per baking sheet. Smack the baking sheets onto your kitchen counter a few times. This will help even out the batter and eliminate any air bubbles in the macarons.
Transfer to the oven to bake for about 6 minutes. Immediately turn the oven down to 300 degrees F and bake for an additional 6 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter.
To Make the Swiss Buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer set atop a medium saucepan filled with a few inches of water, add the egg white, sugar and salt. Turn the heat to medium and whisk until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Dip your finger in and if it’s still gritty, continue mixing until it completely dissolves.
Transfer the bowl to the stand-up mixer with the whisk attachment and beat until stiff peaks form and the meringue appears very glossy, about 5 minutes. While the mixer is running, add cubes of butter, one at a time. Next, pour in the melted chocolate and vanilla extract and beat until completely combined. Sift in the cocoa powder and mix until combined. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag (no need to add a tip). Snip off the edge of the piping tip with a pair of scissors.
To Assemble the Macarons:
Flip over half of the macarons. Pipe the buttercream onto the macarons and then add the top. Repeat with the remaining macarons.