Chocolate Macaron Recipe

This Chocolate Macaron recipe is light and fluffy with a delicious chocolaty flavor. This light-as-air dessert is both elegant and scrumptious.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 18

resting time 30

Total Time 1 48

Servings sandwiched cookies

Calories 117kcal

Author Dina

Equipment

Ingredients

100 g (1 cup) properly measured* almond flour
220 g (2 1/4 cup) powdered sugar
12 g (2 Tbsp) dutch cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
120 g (4 large egg whites) room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
70 g (1/3 cup) superfine* granulated sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Set them aside for later
Place the almond flour, powdered sugar, dutch cocoa powder, and salt into a food processor. Place the lid on and pulse on high about 10 times. This will ensure that the dry ingredients are very fine and result in smooth macarons.
Now sift the dry ingredients through a fine-mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Discard any larger pieces that may be left behind.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the room-temperature egg whites along with the vanilla extract and cream of tartar. Begin mixing at high speed. After about 1 minute, the eggs will become foamy. This is when you can slowly add in the superfine* granulated sugar. Keep mixing at high speed for another 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. A good way to know if your egg whites are done is when they don’t slide or fall out of the mixing bowl if they were to be flipped upside down.
Now transfer the egg whites to a large mixing bowl and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Gently fold everything together using a large silicone spatula. Once it's mixed well, add another third of the dry ingredients. Repeat this process with the remaining third of the dry ingredients. Be careful not to over-mix the batter.
Place a round piping tip such as Wilton 1A into a pastry bag and begin filling it with the batter. This step can be very messy so I find it helpful to twist the bottom end to keep it closed so the batter doesn’t ooze out.
Now pipe out 1-inch mounds of the macaron batter onto your prepared baking sheets. Make sure to leave 1-2 inches between each piped macaron since they will continue to spread a little.
To get rid of air bubbles, 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. If you see any visible air bubbles. Just pop them with a toothpick.
Now let the macarons dry at room temperature for about 30-50 minutes or until they are no longer tacky to the touch. The dry time may differ depending on the humidity of the current day. If you live in an area with a lot of humidity, it may take longer for the macarons to form the “skin” before baking.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 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 16-18 minutes. Be careful NOT to under-bake or else they will stick to the silicone mat or 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. Once the macarons are done baking let them cool down to room temperature.
To make the chocolate ganache, place the chocolate chips in a bowl and warm up the heavy cream in a saucepan until it's simmering. Then pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and stir with a whisk until smooth.
Once the ganache is cooled, transfer it to a pastry bag and begin piping the ganache onto half of the baked macarons. Then sandwich the remaining macaron shells on top of the filled ones. Macarons are best enjoyed the next day. Store in an airtight container in the fridge since the ganache has perishable ingredients.

Notes

Measuring almond flour*- Make sure to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. Avoid scooping straight into the measuring cup. This compacts the flour and changes the amount.

Superfine sugar*- you can make granulated sugar superfine by pulsing the sugar in a food processor about 15 times. This will give your finished macarons a smoother look.

Nutrition