This is the ultimate guide on how to make perfect French macarons. This coffee macaron recipe is full of espresso flavor and a smooth chocolate ganache.
Macarons can be a little finicky. This is something that takes practice and a lot of patience. After making my raspberry macarons so many times, I’ve come up with a list of tips to follow so you too can make a perfect macaron.
How to make coffee macarons
- Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into a bowl and mix gently.
- Whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Then add cream of tartar, salt, espresso powder, and sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold dry ingredients into the stiff egg whites. You’ll want it to look like molten lava.
- Place a Wilton 2A tip in the pastry bag and pipe small circles of the coffee macaron batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can sprinkle some coffee grounds on top while the macarons are still wet. Leave them out for 20 minutes until they are tacky to the touch.
- Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit on the conventional setting for 18 minutes, one tray at a time.
Macaron troubleshooting for Coffee macarons
- When making this coffee macaron recipe, you want to use room temperature ingredients, especially the eggs. I even make sure my mixer bowl is at room temperature. I keep my mixer on a shelf in my garage (which is really cold). To bring it back to room temperature I let the outside of my mixer bowl run under hot water for a minute.
Macaron skin
- Make sure to sift the almond flour and powdered sugar. Don’t use a super fine sifter. I’ve tried using a super fine mesh sifter thinking it would give me those perfectly smooth macarons, but instead it prevented my macarons from forming the “skin”. If a macaron doesn’t have that “skin”, it won’t rise to form the ridges at the bottom.
- Let the macarons sit in room temperature for at least 20 minutes or until they feel tacky to the touch. Think of a glob of glue that’s been sitting for a while. It’s still wet on the inside but if you lightly press it with your finger, it will feel dry. If you live in a humid area it will take longer for your macrons to form that “skin” on the outside.
Macaron Batter
- You don’t want to over beat or under beat the egg whites, A good way to know if your egg whites are beaten well is if you lift the beater upright and the egg whites stand still instead of curving over.
- When combining the flour to the egg whites, you want to gently fold it instead of just mixing it because you want the egg whites to retain as much of their volume as possible. I like to use a large rubber spatula so that it folds more of the batter with each turn. The consistency of the batter should look a lot like molten lava. Not too runny, and not too thick.
Macaron feet
- When I pipe out the batter, I don’t swirl the tip. I just keep it in one place until there’s enough piped out for 1 cookie.
- Once all the batter is pipped out unto the parchment paper, take the tray and bang it really hard on the counter to release any air bubbles. This will help those feet form.
- Bake each tray 1 at a time in the oven. Since one tray is in the oven first, the other tray becomes drier. To prevent the second tray from being too dry, remove it from the oven a minute or two earlier than the first.
What piping tip to use for coffee macarons?
I find that a Wilton 2A round piping tip works the best for making french macarons.
Ingredients for this coffee macaron recipe
- egg whites (room temperature)
- granulated sugar
- powdered sugar
- almond flour
- salt
- cream of tartar
- espresso powder
Ingredients for the chocolate ganache:
semisweet chocolate
heavy whipping cream
How to make chocolate ganache
- Pour the heavy cream in a saucepan and let it come to a simmer over medium heat.
- Place the semisweet chocolate chips into a bowl and pour the hot heavy cream over them.
- Let the chocolate sit for a few minutes then stir until it becomes a smooth creamy consistency.
Macaron Filling
Fill a disposable pastry bag with the chocolate ganache. Flip half of the macaron shells on their backs and pipe the chocolate filling onto each sell. Then place the unfilled shell on top.
Notes:
-Makes about 30 completed macarons
-If not eaten right away, keep refrigerated.
-In the pictures it might seem like a lot of batter because I was doing double the portion for a party, so don’t worry if it looks like you have less batter.
Like French macarons? You might also like these other French recipes.
Almond Pear Tart– tart shell filled with an almond frangipane filling and juicy ripe pears.
Nutella Croissant– flakey butter layers made from scratch and filled with Nutella
Full Recipe Instructions
Coffee Macaron Recipe
espresso infused macrons sandwiched between a rich chocolate ganache
Print Pin Rate Servings: 30 filled macarons
Calories: 105kcal
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the macaron:
- 4 egg whites room temperature
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2 1/2 cups Powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- Pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- Ingredients for the chocolate ganache:
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- Ingredients for topping:
- ground coffee I bought mine from Trader Joe's, but you can use whatever kind you like
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F degrees. Make sure your oven is on the conventional setting. (or in other words, if your oven has a fan inside of it, avoid having the fan on).
- Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into a bowl and mix to combine. Sifting is crucial because you want to get rid of any larger pieces of almond.
- Beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy, then add espresso powder, salt, and cream of tartar. Mix for another minute then add the sugar. Beat for another 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
- Fold flour/sugar mixture into the egg white mixture. Be careful NOT to over mix. About 80 turns of your spatula should be enough. You want the batter to resemble the consistency of molten lava. I recommend using a large spatula. That way every turn will mix more of the flour into the egg whites.
- Fill a pastry bag with the batter. Using a circle piping tip about 1/2 inch in diameter, pipe out 1 inch mounds. Make sure to pipe out onto parchment paper. Do not add any grease to the cookie sheets.
- Take the cookie sheets and bang them onto the counter a few times to get rid of any air. I hit them pretty hard, about 10 times.
- I like to sprinkle some coffee grounds on top of every mound to give it a stronger coffee taste, but that's totally optional.
- Let the macarons sit in room temperature for about 30-50 minutes. It really depends on how quickly they become tacky to the touch. If you live in an area with a lot of humidity, it may take longer for the macarons to form the "skin".
- Bake 1 tray at a time for 18 minutes. Be careful NOT to under bake or else they will stick to the parchment paper. I found that the second batch that sat out while the first was baking tended to burn a little since it sat out longer. So you may want to remove the second batch from the oven a minute or two earlier.
- Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium high heat until it comes to slight boil. Dump the the chocolate chips into a bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate making sure to submerge it. Let the chocolate sit for a few minutes then stir until it becomes a smooth creamy consistency.
- Fill a disposable piping bag with the chocolate ganache and snip the tip with scissors.
- Flip the cookies on their backs, and pipe a small mound of filling on one of them. Then place the other cookie on top.
Notes
If not eaten right away, store macrons in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Serving: 1filled macaron | Calories: 105kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 33mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo of it and tag me on Instagram @simplyhomecooked or use the hashtag #simplyhomecooked so I can see it and feature it!
This recipe was originally posted on Apr 15, 2015, we’ve tweaked it a bit since then.
Ps: we’ve updated a few of our photos. Here are some of our older photos.
Hi, I’m Dina, so glad you stopped by! I believe life is too short for bad coffee and boring meals. With my easy to follow step-by-step recipes, you’ll be surprised at how quickly a wholesome and delicious meal can come together. I hope you find something you enjoy!
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Carol L says
Great recipe, turned out perfectly.
Dina says
Thank you for the feedback Carol! Glad you loved it!
Barb Barker says
I made this recipe exactly as written, measured precisely. The sugar to almond flour t egg white ratio seemed off, but still used the recipe. When it came time to mix it it was a big sticky lump. Could not get the lava consistency I’ve gotten with other macaron recipes. I ended up throwing it out. What gives?
Dina says
Hi Barb, sometimes the trick is to mix just a little longer and you will achieve the lava-like consistency.
Amber says
I am So surprised how perfect these turned out!! Thank you for this recipe!
Dina says
That’s amazing Amber! I am so happy to hear that these were a winner!
SUPRIYA ROY says
Very tempting
Dina says
I hope you give it a try and love it! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Angie Ortega- Wetzel says
Hello there, was wondering if I can cut this recepi in half or will that compromise the texture/shape of the macarons?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Angie 🙂 I have never tried cutting this coffee macaron recipe in half but it should be fine 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
Arielle says
The ones I put the espresso powder on top of were ruined. Any idea why?
simplyhomecooked says
Hmm, thats odd. I am not too sure why that happened.
Smz says
Hi, can u advice on what could be used instead of cream of tartar. Thanks
simplyhomecooked says
I can’t think of a substitute for cream of tartar. You can just omit it instead. The reason its used in this recipe is to help stabilize the eggs.
Tory says
Vinegar is a substitute. 1 tsp of vinegar per 1/4 tsp cream of tartar. They are both acids.
simplyhomecooked says
Thanks for the tip Tory!
Sandra says
The only problem with vinegar is it can have a strong flavour that seeps through. Lemon juice can be another sub equal amounts, if I don’t have it I would just rather leave it out.
Carla says
I tried a different recipes last week and they did t turn out so well. Used your recipe today and took to heart all your tips. Absolute perfection thank you so much
simplyhomecooked says
Wow, that’s awesome Carla! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a kind review! 🙂
Madison says
Have made these so many times I’ve lost count, always amazing, people beg me for the recipe! I also add an expresso shot to my mix and still works fine and adds richer coffee flavour.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Madison, thank you so much for your kind feedback! I am so happy that you and your family enjoy my coffee macaron recipe 🙂 Love the addition of coffee! I hope you enjoy more of my recipes!
Elisia says
Hi there – does a shot of Expresso make it runny?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Elisia, yes it will make it too runny. I hope you get a chance to make these macarons 🙂
Cathy says
This is the first time I made macaroons. They didn’t turn out very well. They were quite lopsided & uneven. I’d appreciate any suggestions.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Cathy, I am sorry to hear the coffee macarons didn’t turn out so well. Sometimes the cause of lopsided macarons could be because of incorrect oven temperatures. When the oven runs a little too hot, the macaron feet rise too fast causing them to be lopsided. I know this first hand because my old oven gave me this same issue. It wasn’t until I tested my oven and realized the temperature it showed was inaccurate. I hope this helps clear things up for you Cathy 🙂
Anna Fowler says
Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! It yielded delightful results on my first attempt.
I’m sharing my experience in a (very) new blog and I’d love to link to your recipe if you don’t mind for others who might want to try it. I especially appreciate the step-by-step tips for successful cookies- very helpful for a beginner! You rock!
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you for your kind feedback, Anna! I’m so happy the coffee macaron recipe turned out well 🙂
Lucy says
I made macarons years ago and it was a major fail, so I was turned off of making them until now. These turned out AMAZING!!! I did not have to make any adjustments to the recipe, and they turned out perfect. I did not have to take the second batch out early so I ended up cooking both trays for about 19 or 20 minutes. This is a new favorite of mine and my friends — I even shipped some off to Maryland!
simplyhomecooked says
Wow, Lucy!! That’s so awesome! I love hearing reviews like these! Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂
Jenny says
Is this a basic recipe.. it seems better written than the others that ive tried reading! Could i use a purple pastel dye and add it to these? And i wanted to make a buttercream filling. The purple ones are just so pretty! If so, when do i add in dye? To the egg whites after whipped?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Jenny, you can most definitely use this coffee macaron recipe as a base for any kind of macarons you want to make. Just omit the espresso powder and add your food coloring the moment the egg whites begins to form soft peaks. I recommend using gel food coloring for macarons for optimal results. I hope your macarons turn out well Jenny 🙂
Jill Jak says
This is such a cool and creative idea! I really wanted it to work out. Unfortunately, it went terribly wrong despite never having a problem making macarons. I wonder if it’s the proportions in the recipe. So, I’m going to alter them a bit and try again. Hopeful for next time!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Jill, I’m sorry to hear they didn’t turn out. I hope you can give them another try 🙂 If you have any questions about the baking process I am more than happy to answer them.
Inna says
Hi, can I just grind some espresso beans for the espresso powder or is that not the same thing?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Inna, unfortunately that won’t work. Espresso powder is concentrated instant coffee, so ground coffee beans won’t be able to give you the same results.
Francesca says
Hi! i wnated to know how much temperature is for the oven (: THanks
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Francesca, I bake them at 300 degrees Fahrenheit on the conventional setting (meaning without the oven fan running).
Vanessa says
I tried today your recipe! But unfortunately my macarons cracked on top … any idea what I did wrong?
They didn’t look as nice as yours but tasted delicious! Thanks for sharing!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Vanessa, I’m happy you enjoyed the taste. A common reason why macarons crack is because the shell didn’t form a hard enough skin before baking. Did you poke the macarons to test if they formed a tacky like skin before putting them in the oven?
Allison McMahon says
I use a superfine mesh sifter for macarons (because that’s all that I have) and haven’t had problems with the skin not forming — I wonder if your problems were coincidental to the type of sifter used?