Chocolate French Macarons

Name: Chocolate French Macarons
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 102 grams egg whites; 71 grams cane sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 185 grams powdered sugar; 113 grams almond flour; 15 grams Dutch cocoa powder; 155 grams powdered sugar ((sifted)); 85 grams salted butter ((softened)); 15 grams Dutch cocoa powder ((sifted)); 2 teaspoons milk

Dainty, light and perfectly rich — my Chocolate French Macarons are made up of a chocolate cookie and a chocolate filling for the lightest but most delicious chocolate cookie you'll ever have! Learn how to make French macarons with this easy recipe.

If you love French macarons, also try Strawberry French Macarons Without Food Coloring, Chocolate Pistachio French Macarons, or Chocolate Malt French Macarons.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Recipe Name: Chocolate French Macarons
Ready In: 1 hour 30 minutes
Makes: 30 sandwich cookies
Main Ingredients: egg whites, almond flour, Dutch cocoa, powdered sugar
Flavor Profile: decadent chocolate filling with chocolate almond cookies
Dietary Info: gluten free, no seed oils
Difficulty: Hard
Why You’ll Love It: explosion of textures with rich chocolate flavor

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Why You'll Love This Recipe

Chocolate: I love this recipe for simple Chocolate French Macarons because they are really for the chocolate lover. If you are a purist and love chocolate, then you'll love this recipe!
Light & Airy: French macarons have a light and airy texture to them. It's part of what makes them so magical. This recipe is incredibly light, so even though you're enjoying rich chocolate, it's very light and delicious!
Crispy & Chewy: Part of the allure of French macarons (at least for me) is their texture. And they have a combination of crispy and chewy that nothing else can even rival. If you don't have this contrasting texture, then something probably went wrong because this is where the magic is!

Jump to:

A Quick Look At The Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
What are French Macarons?
Ingredients
Baker’s Tips
How to Make Chocolate French Mcarons
Trouble Shooting
Recipe FAQ’s
More Chocolate Cookie Recipes
Chocolate French Macarons
The Bake Shop

What are French Macarons?

French macarons are a meringue based cookie that originated in France. These light and airy meringues are sandwiched together with either buttercream, ganache, jams, or caramel for a light and sweet cookie. French macarons are naturally gluten free because they are made with almond flour. French macarons are a more advanced cookie, so if you are looking for a challenge then this recipe is a fun one!

Ingredients

Egg Whites: French macarons are made using egg whites. It's really crucial to weigh your egg whites so you have the right amount. Also, be sure you do not get any yolk in the whites as we don't want the fat.
Cane Sugar: You'll need cane sugar for the macs. I love Costco Organic Kirkland Cane Sugar as it's such a great deal and the quality of this sugar is perfect for macs.
Vanilla Extract: My favorite is Simply Organic Vanilla Extract.
Almond Flour: I use Food to Live Organic Almond Flour for the macs.
Powdered Sugar: I use Wholesome Organic Powdered Sugar, be sure it's sifted. This is crucial for a recipe like this where texture is everything!
Dutch Cocoa Powder: You'll need organic Dutch cocoa powder for the macs and the filling. My favoite is NuNaturals Organic Dutch Cocoa Powder.
Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter for the filling. Just be sure to use a high quality butter you like.

*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.

Baker's Tips

Use a scale! I say this for every recipe, but especially when making French macarons, it's so important!
Make sure your meringue is whipped until stiff peaks form. It should be stiff, glossy, and white.
Allow the macs to rest and properly form the shell. This step is super important for pretty French macarons.
If you don't want to use Ateco tip #864 for the filling, that's totally optional!
Be very gentle when sandwiching them together as they can break easily.
Eat or enjoy your French macarons the day they are baked! They are not good beyond the first day.

How to Make Chocolate French Mcarons

Step 1

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Step 2

To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk, starting on low to avoid splattering, and slowly increasing the speed to high, until stiff peaks form.

Step 3

Sift the powdered sugar, almond flour, and cocoa together into the bowl of meringue. Turn the mixer on low for 10 to 15 rotations until the dry ingredients start to blend into the meringue. Pulse the mixer on medium-high 4 to 5 times to incorporate the batter.

Step 4

Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer, and gently stir the batter with a spatula just until there are no pockets of egg whites or dry bits of almond flour. Don’t overstir. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with Ateco tip #804.

Step 5

Pipe the macaron batter onto the prepared cookie sheets (30 should fit on each cookie sheet). Holding a cookie sheet firmly in both hands, and making sure the parchment paper doesn’t slide around, bang the cookie sheet on the counter a few times. Rotate the cookie sheet and bang it a few more times. Repeat with the other cookie sheet. This will smooth out the batter and will help form the macarons’ famous “feet.”

Step 6

Let rest for 45 minutes, or until the rounds of batter have formed shells. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 7

Bake for 10 minutes or until set and dry. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets.

Step 8

To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the powdered sugar, butter, cocoa, and milk. Mix on low until combined, increase the speed to high, and mix for 1 minute more, or until light and fluffy. Transfer the filling to a piping bag with Ateco tip #864.

Step 9

Pair the macarons together by size, and turn over every other one. Pipe a swirl of filling into the center of each turned over macaron. Sandwich the pairs together.

Trouble Shooting

What is a French macaron shell?

After you pipe the batter, the macarons have to rest until a shell forms. All recipes will say this, but what is a shell? When you pipe the batter it is sticky, and after you bang the macarons and let them rest, a shell will form. This means that the batter is no longer sticky to the touch, but dry and smooth feeling. So, that's what you are looking for when it says to let them rest until a shell forms.

What if my shell isn’t forming?

If you are having a difficult time with the shell, it could be your climate or weather – and nothing that you did! French macarons are very temperamental, and when it is humid out they are the worst cookie to bake. So, if it is snowing or raining then do not make French macarons as they will have a very difficult time with the shell forming because of this very reason! French macarons are best in dry climates, so weather with moisture can just make them worse. So, keep that in mind when deciding what day you are going to bake French macarons!

If it is not raining or snowing and your shell isn’t forming after an hour, just be patient. It can take a little bit longer for the shell to form. If it’s been almost 2 hours and your shell hasn’t formed, then bake your French macarons anyways as it shouldn’t take that long. It could be your mixing, stirring, or banging that prevented the shell from forming. And take it as a learning experience for the next time that you make these cookies. French macarons take time to learn from your mistakes and get the feel of making them. No one gets it first try, and even seasoned macaron bakers (such as myself) even have days where we just don’t know what happened! That’s part of what make these cookies so fun to make because it’s a challenge every time and when you get them right, there is nothing better!

If your feet splooge out (for lack of a better word) and they are very flat and don't sit under the cookie then a couple things could have happened. You could have baked them too soon. If you don't allow them to rest properly and the shell to form, this can hinder the feet from forming correctly. So be sure they have rested until a shell has formed. Or you could have stirred the batter too much. And in this case, even if you did let them rest properly, the batter would have been too runny to form the feet.

Recipe FAQ's

What if I don’t have almond flour?

If you don’t have almond flour, you can use a food processor and grind blanched slivered almonds to make almond flour. It’s very important to grind until finely ground (but not too much as you’ll get almond butter!). Also, be sure to weigh and measure out the almond flour after you have ground it and sifted it to remove the bits that are too large so that you have the right amount of almond flour.

Can I use natural cocoa powder instead of Dutch cocoa?

Yes, if you only have natural cocoa powder you can use that in place of Dutch cocoa. Natural cocoa powder is less sweet than Dutch cocoa powder, which is why I prefer Dutch cocoa for baking. But, if you prefer natural, then you can use that instead.

How do you store French macarons?

This is simple – you don’t! I get very heated on this subject because I believe French macarons are something that should be baked and enjoyed right away. The longer the meringue sites out, the staler the cookies become. I believe that French macarons are good for 6 to 8 hours at the most. Beyond that, they either start to do one of two things – they will either get crispy or soggy. And neither of those textures are good in this cookie! So, I like to bake French macarons and eat what I want, and then give them to friends or neighbors. They are great to bake for a party as you know they’ll all be gobbled up by your guests. So, plan to make these Chocolate French Macarons on a day when you have friends or family around.

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