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 my batter seemed too thick. I measured all the ingredients by weight and even triple sifted everything. When i added the dry mixture to the egg whites it never formed a ribbon but fell as clumps from my spatula. Maybe i didnt mix enough or maybe my scale was off and i ended up with too much dry mixture? I used 2 large store bought egg whites. when i piped the matter on my baking sheet i was left with ridges and peaks that i tried to flatten but was too sticky. Any ideas? Thanks! Ill post back after they are baked!
Hi, Lmf! Thank you for providing lots of details. It really helps with troubleshooting. I highly recommend weighing the egg whites as well. I find they all tend to be different and 2 large eggs could yield less than 75gr, which will cause that thick batter issue.
I have never made macarons before and these tasted (and looked) amazing! They were devoured in minutes, with no crumbs left behind. I am looking forward to making another batch, thank you so much for this recipe. I have a question about when they are ready to come of the tray, should the bottoms be perfectly smooth, or is it o.k if a bit of the bottom skin does not come? Thanks!
Hi, Madelin! So happy to hear you enjoyed those macarons!! Usually you want the bottom to be smooth, but I’ve had macarons when they’re a bit stuck to the parchment paper too. No big deal, in my opinion.
This is the very first time I’ve ever attempted macarons (or meringue!) and I am blown away by how GREAT they came out!! Thank you so much for such a thoroghly explained recipe, both here, in the comments, and on your extra tips article — it definitely paid off to read all of them thoroughly!! They’re not perfect, but they’re smoothe and crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, and the ganache is very tasty!! Would love to try out a different, thicker ganache in the future, but I’m super excited to keep trying all of your macaron flavors and perfecting the macaron myself! Thank you!
Julie, thank you soooo much for sending the photo of your macarons. They look fabulous!!! And I’m so happy you had such success on your first try! You can reduce the amount of heavy cream in your ganache next time for thicker consistency. Thanks again for your feedback!
Shinee, does it work to use pasteurized egg whites? You know, the stuff in the little cartons? The things I’ve read on the internet say that they are completely interchangeable, but since macarons are not as straightforward as other baked foods, I don’t want to try it if you already know it won’t work.
Hi, Carol! Sorry for delayed response. I’ve always been curious about this too, and I’ve been meaning to test it myself, but always forget to pick up carton of egg whites. So yeah, I’m not really sure on this.
I’ve tried using the carton egg whites, and they do not work at all! Even after 10 minutes of whisking at the highest speed, no peaks formed at all.
So It may just be me but when I made these they turned out almost perfect. Except for the fact that my macarons were lumpy on top and had barely any feet! Now I don’t mind the lumpyness because I am making these for my brothers birthday (He is turning 6) and they are going to be Chewbacca! But I don’t know if I over beat the egg whites or what because they had the smallest feet ever.
Hi, Natalie. So fun you’re making macaron Chewbacca!!! 🙂 I bet your brother loved it! As for the low feet, there could be number of reasons, like over-mixed batter (deflated too much air out of the batter), not enough rest before baking, or low oven temperature, etc. Hope next time they’ll come out perfect!
I don’t know if it was just me but I followed everything the recipe told me to do but all of my cookies were cracked and didn’t have any feet so I need some suggestions on how to fix this problem. (also i did reach to ribbon stage and tapped the bubbles out).
Hi, Lily. First, thanks for trying my recipe and for your comment. There could have been number of things that cause cracked shells. Since I don’t see your macarons, I can’t exactly tell what may have caused the issue. I suggest checking this Visual Troubleshooting Guide, and see which one is the most similar to yours. Also, if you’ve got a picture, you can also e-mail it to me, and we can try to figure out what’s the issue.
Very excited! This is my third try and my first somewhat success. During my first attempt, I tried to save a trip to the store by using wax paper instead of parchment paper (LOL). The second attempt I messed up the egg whites, but Shinee’s blog on this is very helpful. I finally got it right this time. Thanks, Shinee!
Hi, Joyce! I bet the wax paper thing didn’t go well, huh? Hehe I’m SO happy to hear you’ve got your successful batch. Thanks for you feedback!!
I just made these and they turned out great. After making your lemon macarons, I had to try the chocolate. I doubled the recipe, so I could use my big mixer instead of the hand mixer, and it was perfect. Thank you!! Now I need to try a strawberry one.
Tiffany, you’re rocking it with macarons! Thank you for your feedback! Glad doubling the recipe worked out.
oh and also how many macarons does the recipe make? and if it is a small amount is it possible if i could double the recipe or would that wreck the mixture
Cassie, I get about 20-25 filled macarons (about 40-50 shells). They’re about 1.5-inch rounds, so they’re small cookies. I’ve never tried doubling the batch, so I can’t say for sure if it’ll be the same or not.
I have doubled the recipe and they came out just as good.
Hi, Serena! Thank you for sharing your experience. Glad the recipe worked out when doubled!
hi shinee
so i have another Question. when you said sift together almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder twice. what do you mean by doing ti twice. like do what twice
Hi, Cassie. You need to sift dry ingredients twice. It helps to mix everything together better.