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 Macarons
These Coffee Macarons are made with espresso-infused macarons with rich chocolate ganache sandwiched in the middle.
Print Pin Rate Servings: 30 filled macarons
Calories: 105kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
For the coffee macarons
- 4 egg whites room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- Pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp espresso powder
For the chocolate ganache and topping
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into a bowl using a fine-mesh sieve and mix to combine. Sifting is crucial because you want to get rid of any larger pieces of almond. Then set it aside for later.
- 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 Wilton 1A piping tip, 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".
- 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).
- 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. Add 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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Violet says
Can I use a silicone mat instead of parchment paper?
simplyhomecooked says
Yes Violet, a silicon mat works great too.
Kasey says
We used this recipe to follow for other flavors we created, too. It was the one that turned out the best for us! It’s now our staple to get the perfect macarons. Thank you!!
sara says
Hi. I love anything that has coffee and I’d love to try these. Cups never work for me, do you have metric equivalents?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Sara, I’m sorry I don’t have the metric equivalents of this recipe, but there are many websites that can do conversions like this one for example, http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml
Rae Quarles says
Hi, I just followed this recipe and my macarons did not turn out. I was doing pretty well until I needed to fold the meringue into the almond flour and sugar. I thought that just 4 egg whites to 4 cups of dry ingredients was a bit strange but I folded as instructed and it would not combine properly. My mixture was still a thick dough no matter how much I tried to deflate the air, so I added another whipped egg thinking my eggs must be smaller than the ones you use. This just made my macarons take really long to bake and even when they did, the bottoms were wet and stuck to my silicone mat. Do you have any tips on what I did wrong?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Rae, I’m sorry to hear your macarons didn’t turn out. How long did you fold the batter? Some people even end up with runny batter if they fold too long. I’m not quite sure why your batter was so thick. I used large eggs for the recipe. What size eggs did you use?
Katie says
My batter did not come out right at all. It was very thick. I added the dry ingredients slowly and did not think I over mixed. Any idea where I went wrong?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Katie, if the batter was thick after you added the dry ingredients, it was probably under-mixed. Hope that helps.
Lucia Gwen Zimmmerman says
thanx!! these macroons look AMAZING!!!!!!
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Lucia!
Rimma says
Can I freeze assembled macaroon?
Rimma says
I hesitated to make macarons for a long time. This is the first recipe I ever tried. They worked out more than perfect and 38 pieces. Thank you so much for the easy recipe.
simplyhomecooked says
You’re so welcome Rimma! I’m glad they worked out 🙂
Leighann says
I’ve been itching to make these macaroons for a while now, but I can’t find espresso powder at any of my local grocery shops! Where did you get yours/what brand is it?!
simplyhomecooked says
Hey Leighann, most stores like Fred Meyer, Safeway, and target should carry it. If you still can’t find it, Amazon has it. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Medaglia-DOro-Instant-Espresso-Coffee/dp/B002BTI9B0
Tara Smith says
We tried this recipe and it didn’t make as many as expected. I’ve made macarons many times with success ,but with these some cracked ,browned on the sides and were not stiffing on the tops. They tasted ok ,but we were dissapointed with the appearance and texture.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Tara, I’m sorry they didn’t work out. In my post I mention that humidity plays a big role in how quickly the macarons stiffen. Maybe the humidity was a bit high when you baked them?
Amy Wall says
Just made these and they worked so well. Amazing flavor and easy recipe! How long will the keep in the refrigerator? They also made way more than expected- I had around 45!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Amy! I’m so happy to hear your macarons turned out well 🙂 They can stay refrigerated for about 5 days.
Debra Riell says
Great Recipe!!! Worked for me on the first try. Really good pictures and advice as well as directions. I would love to translate to more flavors….
simplyhomecooked says
Debra I’m glad the recipe worked well for you! Thank you for taking the time to write such a kind review 🙂
Harley says
First macarons I’ve ever tried making and they came out perfect with this recipe! Everyone was really impressed at the party and kept asking for the recipe, all the little tips definitely helped’
simplyhomecooked says
Wow Harley that’s awesome! So glad they turned out from the first try! 🙂
Mayya says
With almond flour and sugar u measure first then u sift ? Right ?
simplyhomecooked says
Yes, I measure then sift.
Katy | Her Cup of Joy says
These macarons look so good! My favorite flavor too, my siblings always request coffee macarons when I ask them what to make for birthday parties.
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Katy, took me forever to get them right! I love anything coffee flavored too 🙂
Natasha says
So excited to try making these!! Where did you buy the almond flour at?
simplyhomecooked says
Natasha I bought the almond flour from Costco. It’s by far the best almond flour I’ve ever bought.
Tatyana Bulkhak says
These are by far my favorite macaroons to make! Thank you for sharing your recipe:)
simplyhomecooked says
Tanya I’m so happy you love my recipe 🙂 I saw your picture on instagram. Your macarons turned so nice! Great job! 🙂
Natasha says
Your recipes look amazing. Going to make your Cherry Jello cake for my son’s bday this weekend. I am so excited I found your blog. Please keep on posting recipes because you really help us become better cooks. I have been checking your site few times a day for new recipes 🙂 Thank you again!
simplyhomecooked says
Natasha, I’m so glad you discovered my blog 🙂 I would love to know how the Cherry Jello cake turns out 🙂
Ina says
Perfection!!! Will try them for sure.
simplyhomecooked says
Ina, let me know how they turn out 🙂
Natalie says
Tried these last week, and they taste even better than they look (if that’s even possible!) best macarons I’ve tasted so far!!
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Natasha! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂