Want to make the best Chocolate Macarons? Follow my easy chocolate macaron recipe to make delicious, picture perfect, macarons filled with ganache.
Chocolate Macarons with crisp shells giving way to chewy chocolate deliciousness as you bite into them… These delicate cookies are heavenly to eat but can be tricky and finicky to make. Don’t lose heart – follow my step by step tutorial and tips to make the perfect chocolate macarons.
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WHY ARE MACARONS FINICKY?
Macarons are adorable to look at and heavenly to eat, but they are quite tricky to make. These delicate sandwich cookies need patience, practice, precision and attention to detail but are so rewarding to make!
Making macarons is all about the “macaronage” – the process of folding the batter until it is flowing smoothly and JUST RIGHT for piping. Getting a feel for this may require a few attempts – practice makes perfect!
Read through my tips and troubleshooting and watch the video to familiarise yourself with making macarons before attempting this recipe.
French, Italian or Swiss
Macarons are made by folding meringue into almond flour and icing sugar. But did you know there are several ways of making meringue?
French Meringue: Egg whites are whipped and sugar is added gradually until the meringue forms peaks. This method is used to make French Macarons and Pavlova and considered the easiest way of making meringue.
Italian Meringue: Sugar is boiled with water to make a syrup which is then added to the whipped egg whites to make meringue. This is a very stable meringue but the method is more advanced and requires a candy thermometer and a lot of confidence.
Swiss Meringue: The egg whites and sugar are heated over a double boiler until the sugar dissolves then whipped to make meringue. Swiss meringue macarons are the easiest to make in my opinion with consistently great results! I also use this method to make meringue nests and pavlova.
Chocolate Macaron Ingredients
- Almond Flour – fine almond flour or ground almonds
- Powdered sugar (Icing sugar / Confectioners sugar)
- Cocoa Powder – unsweetened dark chocolate powder
- Egg whites – either fresh or from a carton
- Sugar – caster or granulated
- Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (optional)
ESSENTIAL TOOLS
- Digital scales – for best results it is important to weigh the ingredients
- Fine mesh sieve – essential for smooth macarons!
- Silicone spatula
- Piping bags
- Plain round piping tip (Wilton 1A)
- Silpat Silicon Macaron Mats or similar – these are fantastic and reusable!
- Cookie sheets (without rims)
- Silicone bottles for filling and decorating
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE MACARONS
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
Prepare your ingredients
Pulse the almond flour and icing sugar together in a food processor to combine. Use a fine mesh sieve to sift these into a bowl and discard anything that will not go through. Sift the ingredients with the cocoa powder into the bowl and weigh them – you should have 400g (14oz). You might need to compensate for any ingredients that were discarded while sifting.
Add half the egg whites (75ml / scant ⅓ cup) to the bowl and mix into the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula to make a thick paste.
Make the Swiss meringue
Place the remaining egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and place over a saucepan of barely simmering water (double boiler). Stir the egg whites and sugar using a balloon whisk until the sugar dissolves, 4-5 minutes. Dip your finger into the mixture and rub it between finger and thumb—the mixture should warm and not gritty. If you have a digital thermometer, heat until it reads 71C (160F).
Fit the bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on medium-high speed until the meringue is glossy, forms stiff peaks and the bowl is no longer warm to the tough. This can take upwards of 10 minutes.
Macaronage Stage
Add a third of the meringue into the almond paste and use a silicone spatula to mix the two so that the paste loosens. Fold the remaining meringue in a circular motion, scraping the spatula against the bottom and sides of the bowl. You want the batter to be flowing smoothly but slowly like molten lava. When you lift the spatula the batter should flow in ribbons and slowly ooze before gradually melting into the batter. Test how your batter flows as you are folding it – it is crucial not to over mix it.
Pipe your Chocolate Macarons
Fit a plain round tip into a large piping bag. Twist the end of the bag to seal (so batter doesn’t flow out) and fill. I usually invert the piping bag over a large glass in order to fill it.
Untwist the bag and hold the bag straight down over your silicone mat. Pipe the macarons slightly smaller than the circle in the template to allow them to spread slightly. Don’t worry if the macarons have small peaks, these should settle when you tap the trays.
Tap your baking trays against your kitchen counter, quite forcefully, to release any air bubbles. Do this a few times. You can pop any tiny bubbles rising to the surface with a toothpick.
Rest and Bake
Rest your macarons for 20-40 minutes or until the shells lose their gloss and are touch dry. This allows a thin skin to form over the macarons. When the macarons are baking the rise of the batter will create the signature “feet” – the ruffly little skirt at the base of the cookies.
Bake, in batches, for 15-20 minutes or until the macarons firm to the touch when prodded gently, with a barely perceptible jiggle. If your oven heat is uneven you can rotate the tray halfway through.
Allow the macarons to cool down for at least five minutes before testing one to see if it lifts cleanly off the mat. Don’t rush this (as I usually do), wait until they willingly peel off. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Filling your Chocolate Macarons
I love using chocolate ganache as a filling for chocolate macarons. You can jazz the ganache up by adding cream liqueurs such as Baileys and Amarula or use flavored chocolate. It’s important to allow the ganache to cool down before filling the shells otherwise it will flow out.
Make the chocolate ganache. Combine the chocolate chips, cream, liqueur if using and honey in a bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds. Stir until melted and smooth and allow the ganache to cool and thicken before using. Pipe the ganache over the macaron shell, allowing a bit of space for it to expand. Sandwich the macarons according to size.
Decorate Your Macarons
This step is optional but makes the macarons even more photogenic if that’s possible! I drizzled the shells with thin ganache and topped with sea salt, chocolate sprinkles, honeycomb and popping candy!
Tips for Chocolate Macaron Success!
- Pulse your almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor to combine. Do not process the almond flour on its own as it can release oil!
- Use a fine-mesh sieve to sift the ingredients and discard any solids.
- Use kitchen scales to measure the sifted ingredients, including the cocoa powder – you should have 400g (14oz) in total.
- Use scales to weigh your egg whites. You can have variable amounts of albumen in eggs.
- Always make sure the bowl and whisk of your stand mixer are spotlessly clean and no egg yolk has contaminated your egg whites. Even a tiny speck of grease or yolk will prevent your meringue from frothing up.
- Humidity and macarons aren’t the best of friends. Not much you can do about it,but keep in mind when resting the macarons before baking.
- Use gel food coloring to tint your macarons. Avoid liquid food colors as they can dilute the batter. No coloring is needed in these chocolate macarons.
COMMON MACARON PROBLEMS & TROUBLESHOOTING
You will probably encounter some of these issues the first few times you make macarons. Follow my troubleshooting tips to avoid these annoying quirks and remember your macarons will taste wonderful even if they don’t look perfect!
- Cracked tops: under mixed batter or not resting the shells for long enough before baking.
- Bumpy tops, imperfect shells: batter was not mixed for long enough, dry ingredients not sifted. Forgot to tap the trays to release air bubbles.
- No feet: batter was too thin or mixed for too long. Macarons did not rest long enough. The oven is not hot enough.
- Hollow shells: overmixed batter. Not baked for long enough. Meringue was overwhipped.
- Shells stick to the mat: not baked long enough, removed from the baking sheet too early.
- Flat macarons: the batter was mixed for too long, or was too wet.
- Dry or burned shells: The oven is too hot or has uneven hot spots. Rotate the trays halfway through. Do a test batch to check what the optimum temperature and baking time is for your oven.
HAVE YOU MADE MY CHOCOLATE MACARONS RECIPE? Please leave a rating or comment and let me know how you got on! Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Perfect Chocolate Macarons
Ingredients
Macarons
- 200 g (1 cup / 7oz) icing sugar powdered sugar / confectioners sugar
- 200 g (2 cups / 7oz) almond flour
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 150 g (½ cup + 2 tbsp) egg whites divided (liquid egg whites or from 5 large eggs)
- 200 g (1 cup / 7oz) caster sugar superfine sugar or granulated
- few drops vanilla extract
Filling
- 150 g (scant 1 cup) dark chocolate chips
- 120 ml (½ cup) cream double /heavy cream
- 2 tbsp honey or golden syrup
- 1 tbsp Baileys optional
To decorate (optional)
- sea salt
- chocolate sprinkles
- popping candy
Instructions
Make the macaron shells
- Put the almond and icing sugar in a food processor and blitz, in short bursts, to a fine powder. Sift into a large bowl and discard any bits that don't go through the sieve. Add the cocoa powder and sift once more for perfectly smooth macaron shells. Weigh your dry ingredients – they should be 400g (14oz). If you discard a lot while sifting you will need to compensate.
- Add half the egg whites (75g) into the bowl and mix vigorously together with a spatula until you have a smooth paste.
- Put the caster sugar and remaining egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer. Place the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to come to contact with the water). Heat the egg whites, stirring with a wire whisk, until the sugar dissolves. Dip a finger to test whether the sugar has dissolved.
- Fill the bowl to your stand mixer and whisk on high speed until you have a glossy stiff meringue that forms peaks. Add the vanilla if using.
- Add a third to the meringue to the bowl with the almond paste and mix it together to loosen. Fold the remaining meringue, in a circular motion, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Mix until the batter drops slowly off your spatula and flows slowly like molten lava. Take care not to over mix your batter.
- Line three cookie sheets with baking parchment or ideally use Silpat Macaron mats. Transfer the batter into a piping bag with plain round nozzle (Wilton 1A). Hold the bag at a ninety degree angle over the mat and pipe the macarons using the template, using a quick circular motion as you stop squeezing the bag.
- Carefully but forcefully knock the trays against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. If the macarons have little 'peaks' pat them down with a clean, wet finger. Leave the macarons to dry until the shells lose their shine and become touch dry.
- Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the macarons have a smooth, dry top and are firm to the touch. Allow the macarons to dry for at least 10 minutes before peeling off the mat.
Fill the macarons
- Put the chocolate chips, cream, honey and Baileys in a bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds then stir until chocolate melts. Leave the ganache to cool down (or pop it in the fridge) before using.
- Pipe the chocolate on half of the shells, allowing space for it to expand and sandwich them gently together.
Decorate the macaron shells (optional)
- Thin any remaining ganache with a little cream until it flows smoothly. Drizzle over the macarons and sprinkle with salt, chocolate sprinkles or any other decorations. Store the filled macarons in an airtight container and consume within a few days.
Video
Notes
Tips for Success
- Pulse your almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor to combine. Do not process the almond flour on its own as it can release oil!
- Use a fine-mesh sieve to sift the ingredients and discard any solids.
- Use kitchen scales to measure the sifted ingredients, including the cocoa powder – you should have 400g (14oz) in total.
- Use scales to weigh your egg whites. You can have variable amounts of albumen in eggs.
- Always make sure the bowl and whisk of your stand mixer are spotlessly clean and no egg yolk has contaminated your egg whites. Even a tiny speck of grease or yolk will prevent your meringue from frothing up.
- Humidity and macarons aren’t the best of friends. Not much you can do about it,but keep in mind when resting the macarons before baking.
- Use gel food coloring to tint your macarons. Avoid liquid food colors as they can dilute the batter.
COMMON MACARON PROBLEMS & TROUBLESHOOTING
You will probably encounter some of these issues the first few times you make macarons. Follow my troubleshooting tips to avoid these annoying quirks and remember your macarons will taste wonderful even if they don’t look perfect!- Cracked tops: under mixed batter or not resting the shells for long enough before baking.
- Bumpy tops, imperfect shells: batter was not mixed for long enough, dry ingredients not sifted. Forgot to tap the trays to release air bubbles.
- No feet: batter was too thin or mixed for too long. Macarons did not rest long enough. The oven is not hot enough.
- Hollow shells: overmixed batter. Not baked for long enough. Meringue was overwhipped.
- Shells stick to the mat: not baked long enough, removed from the baking sheet too early.
- Flat macarons: the batter was mixed for too long, or was too wet.
- Dry or burned shells: The oven is too hot or has uneven hot spots. Rotate the trays halfway through. Do a test batch to check what the optimum temperature and baking time is for your oven.
Kristen says
Your recipe says two cups of Almond flour but then it also says 7 oz so I am wondering if it is suppose to say one cup almond flur?
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Kristen – it is 7oz (200g) approx. 2 cups. Cups are not a very accurate way to measure and in the case of macarons the quantities really should be precise so it is best to weigh the ingredients with a digital scale. Hope this helps
Cindy says
Such a great macaron post Lucy. So thorough! Beautiful images. I have started to use Italian meringue lately for my macarons and I get such consistently good results.
Lucy Parissi says
Italian meringue method was my fave too – I find the Swiss one easier and with fab results! Hope you try it x