Enjoy the decadent taste of a light chocolate treat with this recipe for Chocolate Macarons. They’re perfectly sweet with a delicate consistency.
Fool-Proof French Chocolate Macaron Recipe
Whether you want to impress your guests with a decadent dessert or have a delicious treat throughout the week, these chocolate macarons are the perfect dessert.
I love making them for get togethers or to take along with me to a potluck, but I also love having a little treat each night after dinner too.
If you’ve ever tried macarons and enjoyed them, you can learn how to make them at home with simple ingredients. These Chocolate Macarons are easy to prepare and will leave you with the perfect tasty treat to eat.
Why You’ll Love this Best Chocolate Macarons Recipe:
- Delicious: They’ll have such a fresh and flavorful taste when you’re done making them.
- Easy to make. With simple ingredients, it’s not as difficult as it seems to make these decadent treats.
- Customizable: You can add more to your Chocolate Macarons once you get the hang of making them.
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How to Make Chocolate French Macarons
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
- In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg whites.
- Set the bowl over a saucepan of water while it simmers for about 2 minutes.
- Transfer the egg white mixture to a bowl and beat on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
- Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into the egg whites and gently fold in the dry ingredients.
- Continue folding in your dry ingredients until they are fully incorporated into the egg whites.
- Smush the batter against the sides of the bowl and fold it back together, repeating the process a few times or until the batter flows smoothly.
- When the meringue is ready to pipe, you will know because you will be able to draw a figure 8 in it without the stream breaking.
- When the meringue is ready, transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a small round top (Wilton #10-12)
- Pipe 1½-inch circles on the sheet pan, making sure to pipe them at least 2 inches apart.
- Hold the tray 6-8 inches off the counter and drop it straight down and repeat.
- Set the trays aside to rest until the macarons have developed a skin, about 30 minutes.
- Bake the macarons, one tray at a time, for 14 minutes. Turn halfway through.
- Add the chopped chocolate to a small bowl and microwave it until melted.
- Beat the softened butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the powdered sugar, followed by the vanilla extract, and turn the mixer to high speed.
- Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate and transfer the filling to a piping bag.
- Pipe a small dollop of filling onto the center of one macaron and press another macaron on top pushing them together firmly.
Macarons are sweet, meringue-like treats that look like cookies but have a different consistency to them. They’re made with a combination of ingredients, such as egg whites, almond flour, and sugar, to create the perfect dessert.
While the cookies have similar origins and ingredients (hence their similar names), macarons are made with almond flour and macaroons are made with sweetened flaked coconut.
While I’ve provided standard measurements, using a kitchen scale and gram measurements ensures that you’re using the exact right amount of each ingredient. If you use even the slightest bit too much of an ingredient, your Chocolate Macarons may not come out correctly.
Almond flour is an important ingredient for macarons because it actually provides the unique texture that you know and love! So no, don’t use any other flour besides almond.
If the insides of your macaron shells are hollow, chances are you overmixed the meringue. However, collapsed macarons also occur when you don’t bake the shells for long enough before aging them, which could also cause them to be hollow inside. To avoid hollow shells, don’t over mix the meringue, and always bake for the right amount of time!
Aging is a key part of making the best-tasting French macarons. It allows the shells to soften and take on the flavor of the buttercream. Ideally, you want to allow them to rest for at least 12 hours before enjoying.
Macarons have the perfect consistency. They’re slightly chewy and a bit soft with a slight crisp texture. It’s a unique consistency that sets them apart from plenty of other desserts, such as cookies, pies, and pastries.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- After cooking the shells of the macarons, shake them lightly to make sure they wiggle around just a bit. You’ll know they’re ready if they wiggle with ease.
- Fold your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients instead of mixing them.
- Make sure you’re measuring all your ingredients. It’s the key to having the most success with this dessert.
Enjoy these Chocolate Macarons when you want a unique, light, and delicious dessert. They’re not hard to prepare and everyone will love them.
More Macaron recipes we love
If you make this recipe be sure to leave us a comment or rating. Enjoy!
French Chocolate Macarons Recipe
Ingredients
For the Shells
- 3 large egg whites
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- ⅘ cup powdered sugar
For the Filling
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (1 stick)
- 2¼ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional, but recommended!)
- Baking Sheet
- Silpat Mat (optional)
- Stand Mixer
- Piping Tip Set
- Oven Thermometer (optional, but recommended!)
Instructions
For the Shells
- Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
- Add the egg whites and granulated sugar to a small heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water.
- Whisk the egg whites until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 2 minutes.3 large egg whites, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Next, transfer the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the egg whites form stiff peaks, about 3-4 minutes.
- Use a fine-mesh sieve to sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into the egg whites. Fold the dry ingredients gently into the egg whites by making a "J" shape with your spatula.1 cup almond flour, ⅘ cup powdered sugar
- Continue folding until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Make sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl.
- Once all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated, smush the batter against the sides of the bowl and fold it back together. Repeat the smush-and-fold process a few times, or until the batter flows smoothly. When the meringue is ready to pipe, you’ll be able to draw a figure 8 without the stream breaking. If the meringue breaks while you draw the figure 8, smush and fold a few more times before retesting.
- When the meringue flows smoothly, transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a small round top (Wilton #10-12).
- Pipe 1½-inch circles on the sheet pan, making sure to pipe them at least 2 inches apart. Hold the tray 6-8 inches off the counter and drop it straight down. Repeat 6-8 times, or until it looks like any large air bubbles have popped. Repeat with the second tray.
- Set the trays aside to rest until the macarons have developed a skin, about 30 minutes.
- While the macarons rest, preheat your oven to 325°F.
- The macarons are ready to bake when you can touch them gently without the meringue sticking to your finger.
- Bake the macarons, one tray at time, for 14 minutes, turning the tray halfway through baking.
- Allow the macarons to cool fully on the tray so they don’t stick.
For the Filling
- Add the chopped chocolate to a small bowl and microwave it until melted. Set it aside to cool for a few minutes.1 cup chocolate chips
- Add the softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat it on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.½ cup unsalted butter
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the powdered sugar, followed by the vanilla extract. Turn the mixer to high speed and whip the filling until it’s light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.2¼ cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate and transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with your choice of tip.
Age and Assemble
- Place the macaron shells in similar-sized pairs. Pipe a small dollop of filling onto the center of one macaron. Press another macaron on top and push them together gently, just until the filling reaches the edges. Repeat with the remaining macarons.
- Transfer the filled macarons to an airtight container and store them in the fridge to age overnight.
- Bring the macarons to room temperature and enjoy.
Notes
- Storage: Store any leftover macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Temperature: Your oven must be at 325°F. Use an oven thermometer!
- Shape: To get evenly round macarons, hold the piping bag perpendicular to the tray while you pipe the shells. Don’t try to draw a circle!
- Macaronage: The process of folding the dry ingredients into the meringue is one of the most important steps when making macarons. You should be able to draw a figure 8 with the meringue without the stream breaking. There are lots of great videos online if you aren’t 100% sure what the meringue should look like.
- I recommend using a kitchen scale and gram measurements for this recipe since macarons are a pretty specific recipe.
You make it sound easier than I thought it would be! I have a question, are the chocolate chips semi-sweet or milk chocolate?
You can use either!