Ultimate chocolate macarons recipe with deep dive into various cocoa powders, specific tips to consider for making chocolate macarons and more!
Table of Contents
- Are you new to making macarons?
- Why you’ll love this chocolate macarons recipe:
- Key Ingredient Notes
- What cocoa powder should you use for macarons?
- Cacao Barry Extra Brut cocoa powder
- Valrhona cocoa powder
- Guittard Rich Dutched cocoa powder
- Ghirardelli Natural and Dutched cocoa powders
- Hershey’s Natural cocoa powder
- How to make chocolate macarons:
- 1. Make meringue and sift dry ingredients
- 2. Mix the macaron batter
- 3. Pipe and bake
- 4. Assemble the macarons
- Chocolate Macarons Filling Ideas:
- Chocolate Macarons Recipe
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItAre you new to making macarons?
Have you mastered basic macarons and are up for a challenge?
If you thought plain macarons are a pain, just wait to try making chocolate version. I’m not saying this to discourage you, but I also want to give you a fair warning and set you up for success.
Here’s the thing…
If you haven’t mastered the basic macaron techniques, like making a stable meringue, understanding a proper macaronage, or figured out the sweet spot of your oven, your macaron journey may turn out harder than it needs to be.
Why?
Because an addition of cocoa powder throws a curveball to the whole process. But don’t worry, I’ll share ALL THE TIPS I learned over the years right here!
Why you’ll love this chocolate macarons recipe:
These chocolate macarons are beyond indulgent. So rich, yet addicting, you won’t be able to stop at just one! Even the failed ones are supremely good!!
There is literally no foolproof macaron recipe, and this chocolate macaron recipe is no exception. And the only way you can perfect your macarons is through experimentation.
And my goal here is to equip you with all the tips and tricks to consider when making these decadent treats.
Key Ingredient Notes
- Egg whites – Take good care to separate egg whites from yolks without contaminating the whites with yolks. Room temperature egg whites whip faster and reach better volume.
- Almond flour – Choose super-fine almond flour to with light beige color and fluffy texture.
- Powdered sugar is essential for making macarons.
- Granulated sugar – Use fine granulated sugar, aka caster sugar or baker’s sugar, as it dissolves faster in the egg whites.
- Cream of tartar is optional and can be omitted. However, it helps to stabilize egg whites and create sturdier meringue. It’s just an extra insurance!
- Cocoa powder – You can use either unsweetened natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Not all cocoa powders made same. Read more details below.
What cocoa powder should you use for macarons?
Does type of cocoa powder matter in making chocolate macarons? Yes, no and maybe! 🙂
I’ve tested 6 different cocoa powders with the same recipe.
Cacao Barry Extra Brut cocoa powder
I loved how these macarons were dark and rich colored. They were slightly on the soft side, meaning the shells were a little fragile on the top.
But baking these macarons a little longer solved the problem. After filling and maturing, they were perfect!
Valrhona cocoa powder
Valrhona cocoa powder is pretty dark in color, which produced richer colored macarons with great chocolate flavor.
However, some of the macarons had slightly wavy tops (not completely wrinkly), and I suspect it’s due to higher fat amount of the cocoa powder.
Guittard Rich Dutched cocoa powder
These chocolate macs were also perfect: nice shells with crisp outer layer, full inside and great chocolate flavor.
They had slightly darker shade of brown than macarons made with Hershey’s natural cocoa powder.
Ghirardelli Natural and Dutched cocoa powders
I was quite surprised how similar the macarons with Ghirardelli natural and Dutched cocoa powders were.
Although cocoa powders have different shades, the macarons were practically the same color. But nonetheless, they were perfect macarons with nice smooth tops and full inside.
Hershey’s Natural cocoa powder
Macarons with Hershey’s natural cocoa powder came out perfect every time! Crisp outer skin, full meaty inside, smooth tops and chocolatey flavor!
The only downside is they are light brown colors, which is no big deal in my opinion. And if you want richer brown color, add a small amount of brown gel food coloring.
Cocoa powder conclusion
The high end cocoa powders tend to have higher percentage of fat which is not ideal for macarons.
The most commonly available Hershey’s Natural and Ghirardelli cocoa powders work perfectly for making macarons!
How to make chocolate macarons:
Now that we sorted everything with cocoa powders, let’s make these beautiful macarons.
1. Make meringue and sift dry ingredients
- Make meringue: Combine egg whites, granulated sugar, salt and cream of tartar, if using, in a mixing bowl. Whisk the egg whites on a consistent medium speed until stiff peaks form. You want to see those nice sharp ribs and pointy ends when you lift the whisk. (On KitchenAid stand mixer, I beat the meringue on speed 4. This process may take up to 40 minutes. Don’t rush it.)
- Sift dry ingredients: twice. Yes, two times. Not only are we combining the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder, we’re also aerating the dry ingredients to get that beautiful full interior.
2. Mix the macaron batter
- Sift in almond flour mixture into the meringue.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue with a large silicone spatula. Then fold the batter until lava-like consistency, which means the batter is thick, yet runny enough to slowly flow off the spatula.
WATCH MY REAL TIME MACARONAGE VIDEO
To test the consistency of the batter: Scoop the batter with the spatula and drop it back into the bowl. Then tilt the bowl slightly and count to 10. If the edges of the ribbon are dissolved back into the batter in 10 seconds, the batter is ready!
Chocolate Macaron Batter Consistency
I learned from Phay Shing that chocolate macaron batter tends to be thicker, thus it doesn’t melt back into the batter the same as plain macaron batter. Don’t over-mix!
3. Pipe and bake
- Transfer the batter into a piping bag, fitted with a round tip (I use Wilton 2A tip). And pipe 1.5-inch rounds on two baking sheets, lined with teflon sheets or parchment paper.
- Rest the macaron shells for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 18-20 at 300°F oven. Cool macaron shells completely on the baking sheets and then carefully peel them off.
NEED HELP? Check out visual Macaron Troubleshooting Guide for tips and tricks to fix or prevent common macaron issues!
4. Assemble the macarons
- Remove the cooled macaron shells from the baking surface. If the shells are stuck to the baking surface, the shells are either underbaked, or you need to let them cool completely.
- Then pair the shells by size and arrange them on a baking sheet, or wire rack, placing one shell bottom side up.
- Pipe a dollop of filling on bottom shells and place the top shell over the filling and press lightly so the filling spreads till the edges.
- Place the filled macarons in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or preferably for 24 hours. This process is called maturing, which allows the filling to soften and flavor the shells.
Chocolate Macarons Filling Ideas:
Chocolate macarons are so versatile and pair perfectly with pretty much any kind of filling.
Here are my favorite ways to fill chocolate macs:
- Simple chocolate ganache
- Chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream
- Easy peanut butter buttercream
- Combination of chocolate Swiss buttercream with salted caramel in the center
- Straight up Nutella – the easiest solution!
Chocolate Macarons
Ingredients
For macarons shells:
- 100 g finely ground almond flour Note 1
- 65 g powdered sugar Note 2
- 10 g cocoa powder Note 3
- 75 g egg whites at room temperature Note 4
- 75 g fine granulated sugar Note 5
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar Note 6
- ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
For filling of your choice:
- Chocolate ganache 1/3 of the linked recipe
- Chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream 1/2 of the linked recipe
- Salted caramel for the center
Instructions
To make chocolate macaron shells:
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or teflon sheet, or silicone mat. (TIP: For even air circulation, flip the baking sheets upside down.)
- To prepare dry ingredients, sift together almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder twice. Note: If you have up to 2 tablespoons of chunky dry ingredients left in the sifter, you don't have to replace it. Simply discard those chunky bits.
- To make meringue, in a clean mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, combine egg whites, granulated sugar, cream of tartar and salt and beat the mixture on medium speed until soft peaks form. (I set it to speed 4 on my KitchenAid stand mixer. It takes 30-40 minutes to whip the meringue, but it's well worth it for nice and full shells.)
- Continue beating the egg whites on the same medium low speed until hard peaks form. Visual cues: Meringue should ball up inside the whisk, and when you lift the whisk, the meringue should hold a pointy end and have sharp ribs. (See pictures above or watch this meringue video for more information.)
- To make batter, sift almond flour mixture into the meringue. Using a silicone spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the meringue until fully incorporated. Then continue to fold the batter until it’s runny enough to draw a figure eight. To test, take a small amount of batter and drop it into the bowl. If the small peaks dissolve into the batter on its own in about 10 seconds, the batter is ready. If not, fold couple more times and test again. Be careful not to over-fold the batter. (TIP: Making french macarons is all about the technique. This is one of the most crucial step. Let me try to describe the folding motion as best as I can: run the spatula clockwise from the bottom, up around the sides and cut the batter in half. If you’re beginner macaron-baker, I suggest to count every fold. It takes roughly about 50 folds to reach the proper consistency. After 50 folds, start testing the batter, and continue testing after every couple folds.)
- To pipe macaron shells,transfer the batter into a pastry bag, fitted with a round tip. (I use this Wilton 2A tip.)
- Hold the pastry bag at straight 90° angle and pipe about 1.5-inch rounds about an inch apart on prepared baking sheets. (TIP 2: Download my free macaron template. Simply pipe the batter to fill inner circle.)
- Tap the baking sheets firmly on the counter (or slap the bottom of the baking sheet with one of your hands) a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. You can also use a toothpick to burst some large air bubbles. This step ensures smooth tops.
- Let the macarons rest on the counter for 15 minutes before baking.
- To bake, bake the macarons for 18-20 minutes, one baking sheet at a time, on the middle rack. It’ll take longer for larger macarons. To test for doneness, touch a macaron lightly and try to move it. If it slides and wobbles, bake a minute or so longer. The cooked macarons should be firm to touch and the base shouldn’t move.(TIP: It’s always better to slightly over-bake macarons than under-bake them!)
- Cool the macarons complete and then remove the shells from the baking surface. (TIP: Don't remove the shells while warm, you may risk breaking the shells, or the bottom might get stuck to the baking surface.)
To assemble macarons:
- Pair the colled macaron shells by size and arrange them on a wire rack. Line them up so that bottom shells are upside down.
- Pipe a dollop of desired filling on bottom shells. Place the top shell over the filling and press lightly so the filling spreads till the edges.
- Store the filled macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 24 hours to mature, which allows the filling to soften and flavor the shells.
- To serve, bring the macarons out about 30 minutes prior to serving.
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on November 21st, 2014.
My first time making macarons and I am super pleased. I have very minor problems with them. I read your instructions and information on how to make them and I think my only problem was that I didn’t make them the same size and I put two way to close together lol so they didn’t look pretty but…. They look almost perfect for a (I am not kidding) first batch first time.
Hi, Caitlin! So happy to hear that your very first batch turned out successfully! Yay!! Thank you for sharing your feedback. Hope next batch will be flawless! Send some pictures. 🙂
I shared it on Instagram and # you in it.
Thank you, Caitlin! They look amazing!!
Hi, I realized why everyone is complaining about a thick batter. The recipe calls for 1 cup almond flour and 3/4 cup powdered sugar when, according to the amount in grams, its supposed to be the other way around. Hopefully that makes sense!
Hi, Josh. Thanks for chiming in. But the ingredients and their weights are correct. Powdered sugar is denser than almond flour, thus 1 cup of powdered sugar weighs more than 1 cup of almond flour.
Ah okay makes sense!
These macaroons are AMAZING! The grenache filling is what makes them so special. Nice recipe, thank you! I also thank you for your tips with these picky little cookies. After scrapping many batches over time, I’m always looking for more tips on how to get the perfect cookie. You helped me achieve that. Am appreciative!
Hi, Julie. So happy to hear this recipe worked for you, and my tips were helpful. And thank you for your feedback!
My batter was a bit thick haven’t baked them yet so not sure how they will turn out. But I measured out how big they should be and I only got 12 shells from this batter
I’m sorry to hear that, Lilly! So I was thinking maybe I should hop on a skype call or something with those who are having problem, so I can virtually guide you and we can troubleshoot together. So if you’re up for it, let me know.
I am a skilled baker, made these by weight, followed everything, and they never got thin – “batter” was crumbly and worthless. I have pressed it into a sheet pan to bake and will try to salvage something of it.
Not enough liquid for the amount of dry ingredients, I think. Adding cocoa powder dries things out even more.
Super disappointed with this recipe. Took a lot of time to prep things and if nothing comes of it it’s a total waste of ingredients. I don’t normally rate recipes or leave such negative feedback, but it was a total and complete failure, and I am not a novice.
Hi, Suzannah! Thank so much for your feedback, and I’m sorry yours didn’t turn out. I personally can’t recreate this thick batter issue, and sadly you’re not the only one who has this issue. One of my readers, Chen, actually found out what was causing her thick batter issue. It was the type of almond flour she was using. Here’s her comment, if you’d like to read her findings. If you can help us out and let us know what type of almond flour you used, I’d really appreciate it!
I read that comment, but I used Bob’s Red Mill, the finely ground almond flour. I am not really sure what happened. I may try again the next time I have egg whites.
Thanks for the reply!
Don’t make these!
I also had same problem! I made them a month ago without a scale. Had chunky batter. Needs more egg white.
Bought a scale…aged mt egg whites…for several days in fridge…then let set n counter several hours.
Making them now. Thick and chunky again!
They are in mixer now with paddle on folding speed. I wanted to be sure I posted before delete from my Pinterest.
Well…not sure if I salvaged. I beat up another egg white and after chiseling the chocolate mixture from my bowl I once again used paddle on mixer to blend up. It helped. They are setting now before baking. Anxious to see results!
Hey, Rosanne. Sorry you’re having trouble with macaron batter. Did you weigh the egg whites too? By the way, I don’t recommend aging the eggs, unless you’re in a very humid climate. Aging the egg whites evaporates the moisture out it. Anyway, I got your other message with the photo, my fingers are crossed for you. Keep me posted.
I too had an incredibly terrible, thick, grainy batter that never thinned out. All ingredients were weighed out appropriately, The eggs were not over beaten. Even if I over beat them, it would not explain how I managed to get 18 shells, so only 9 potential macarons. The recipe claims you can make 42 shells. There’s no way you can produce that from two eggs worth.
Hi, Ted. Sorry to hear you had an issue with thick batter. I was able to reproduce the thick batter issue (finally) couple weeks ago. I used 2 smaller eggs, which yielded 63gr of egg whites. My batter stayed thick and never thinned out. So to confirm my suspicion, will you let me know how many grams of egg whites did you use? Thank you!
P.S. As for the number of shells, I’ve been using my base macaron recipe for over 5 years now and I consistently produce at least 20 assembled macarons. There’s absolutely no reason for me to lie about it. And for the record, I’ve never tried doubling my recipe.
These macarons unfortunately were super thick even after mixing for 20 minutes, but I still decided to bake them. They came out cracked and had no feet. I probably would not recommend this recipe.
Hi, Audrey. I’m sorry to hear your macarons didn’t turn out, but thank you for providing feedback. Did you weigh the egg whites by chance?
Hi, First of all these taste AMAZING! But they always are cracked and they barely have any feet. Could you please tell me how to fix the two problems?
Actually they do have feet but could you still tell me what I am doing wrong to make them cracked.
Hi, Shannon. Yeah, even imperfect macarons taste wonderful. As for your cracked macarons, there could be number of reasons, from over-mixed batter to overbeaten meringue. Take a look at my visual troubleshooting guide and see which one is more similar to yours. Hope this helps, if not, please send me a photo of your macs and I’ll try to help.
Thank you for the link to the troubleshooting guide. In a couple days I am going to try to make them again and I think they will turn out better now that I have looked at the guide. Thanks I’ll tell you what happens!
Awesome. Glad you found that post helpful. Keep me posted, Shannon. And good luck! 🙂
Hi, thanks for your recipes, please can I have some help to troubleshoot my thick batter issue.
I’ve tried this chocolate macaron recipe twice and both times the batter remained thick (when I hold up the spatula it just stays on without dropping). I’ve made macarons before without coco powder and they’ve turn out great, but with coco powder, after folding it 35-45 times, they look like they are getting to the right batter consistancy, another 10 folds and they should be perfect for piping but instead they just stop and never get any thinner no matter how much longer I fold them.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Hi, Chen. Well, unfortunately, this thick batter issue is unsolved mystery around here. I can’t recreate the issue to save my life, and I heard this problem from a few readers now. And I just don’t know what might be the issue. Some say the batter gets thicker as you fold, which seems weird. Anyway, one thing I wondering if it’s somehow connected to humidity in the area. Is it pretty dry where you are? Hoping we’ll get this figure out soon.
Hi again,
I have solved the thick batter mystery! It was due to the ALMOND FLOUR I bought. I live in the UK, we call it ground almonds here, but a few blogs wrote almond flour is just the American name for the same thing, but now I’m not sure. I’m going to stick with ground almonds from now on.
The almond flour that caused me all these trouble is a fine ground organic almond flour from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CSUNF4S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) I thought organic would mean good quality and although it claims to be 100% almonds, I’m not convinced.
I’ve gone back to using small packets of supermarket own brand ground almonds, the cost is a little high compared to buying in bulk, but at least this way I get good macarons with a strong almond flavour.
Hopefully your other reviewers haven’t given up on making macarons and sees this post, maybe the almond flour is the cause for their batter dilemma too.
Bw
Chen
Wow, Chen, this is super helpful!!! I just read about the almond flour you had used, it looks like it has added protein, de-oiled, and it also says great for thickening! Now, I don’t know anything about what all those descriptions mean, but it looks to me that it’s not pure ground almond. If at all helps, I’ve used the following brands of almond flour and happy with them all: Bob’s Red Mill, Honeyville and Nature’s Eats. I can’t thank you enough for your valuable feedback, Chen!!
This recipe worked out really well for me! I used a food processor for the egg whites and sugar, and it wasn’t stiff but somehow it worked! Lucky me, I guess. I found another recipe for buttercream online and used that because I was sort of tired from waiting for the macarons to dry. They tasted amazing, but I would add some cocoa powder to make it more decadent. Thanks for this recipe!!
Yay, so happy this recipe worked for you! Be cautious with adding more cocoa powder, trying adding a little at a time. And thank you for your feedback, Yashvi!
Hey I was making this recipe and am having trouble getting it to a thin state. Am I doing something wrong? I have been folding for almost 30 minutes and nothing.
Hmm, interesting. Tiffany, how firm are your folding the batter? Could you try folding it a bit firmer maybe? It shouldn’t take that long to get to the right consistency. Hope it works out and let me know.
Holding very firm….I had my hubny even step in to help.
How did you measure dry ingredients? I’m guessing if you measured by cups, it’s possible you’ve got a bit too much dry ingredients. But at this point one thing you could try is whip 1 egg white till hard peaks and add a little at a time to thin out the macaron batter. Let me know if that helps.
I redid measuring everything with a scale. A little better with consistency but still very grainy
Hey Tiffany, glad to hear the consistency improved as you re-measured the ingredients with a scale. As for grainy issue, it depends on type of almond flour you use. I’ve been using this almond flour, which has super fine texture. Everything gets sifted through and my macarons turn out smooth.
And the batter is also very grainy