Chocolate macarons have a crisp outer shell and a chewy center and are easier to make than you think! This classic French Macaron recipe is filled with raspberry gelee and white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream. For an all-chocolate experience, fill with easy chocolate ganache!
Macarons have gotten a bad wrap for being difficult to make. They can be a bit finicky but anyone can make them and, with a little practice, you'll be making delicious macarons in no time!
Tips for making perfect Chocolate Macarons:
- Processing the almond flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder in the food processor will help to ensure that there are no large pieces or lumps in your batter. You can skip this step if you prefer and just sift once or twice. But I highly recommend that you don't skip it!
- Sifting will remove any remaining lumps and will also help to aerate your mixture. This makes for lump-free, smooth macaron shells.
- Fold ⅓ of your egg white mixture into the dry ingredients until combined instead of dumping all of the egg whites in at once. This helps to loosen the batter and allow the ingredients to incorporate more evenly and more easily. No one wants to see a streak of dry ingredients that didn't get mixed in when they start piping!
- Allow the macarons to rest at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes. I've seen no-rest macaron recipes and I've tried many of them. The results are always better when the shells are allowed to rest before baking.
Macarons filling ideas
Raspberry and chocolate are a perfect pairing, especially if you are using these macarons on top of my Graham, Chocolate & Coconut Cream Tart. The recipe for this tart is on my Patreon, available exclusively to my patrons.
I'm so thankful for the support of my patrons. Check out my Patreon page and consider joining if you are interested in exclusive content and behind the scenes info!
While the recipe for macaron shells is exact (I highly recommend a scale to ensure accuracy!), the filling combinations are endless and adaptable!
I have listed a recipe below for a delicious raspberry gelee that is easy to make and tastes amazing with the chocolate shells. Chocolate and Raspberry Macarons are perfect for a Valentine's Day treat for your Valentine!
The raspberry offers the perfect tang to contrast with the sweetness of the shells.
If you prefer, you can switch up the filling for this chocolate macaron recipe with your choice of flavors or something else that you have on hand! Here are some ideas:
- Raspberry Jam - pre-made or homemade
- Strawberry Jam - pre-made or homemade
- Chocolate Ganache (see notes below recipe)
- Coconut Pecan Frosting
- Peanut Butter Buttercream
- Salted Caramel
Why should you dry Macarons before baking?
Allowing your macarons to dry at room temperature before baking is an important step.
Resting macaron shells baking allows a skin to form on the top of the piped batter. This skin does several things:
- The skin will help to keep the top of the shells smooth, making for a more attractive finish.
- The macarons will rise more evenly with a dry skin on top because the skin gives the batter a stable thing to cling to as it rises.
- Your macarons will have feet, the characteristic ruffle around the bottom. When baking, air has to escape and without the dry skin on top, the air will create cracks in the top of the shell. If the macarons are allowed to rest before baking, the air will be forced to escape underneath, which creates the feet.
Being a little patient and allowing your macaron shells to dry will have a big payoff!
Maturing Macarons
Now, you've been patient while you made your this chocolate macaron recipe and they will taste delicious if you pop one in your mouth as soon as they finish baking and being filled.
I won't blame you if you try one or two!
But maturing the filled macarons in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours is the last step to a perfect mac!
The maturation process (which is simply chilling the filled macarons in the refrigerator in a sealed container) helps the flavor or the filling and shells to meld together. It also improves the texture of the shell. You'll still have a slight crisp to the outside of the shell but the inside will be soft and chewy.
And the biggest reason for maturing macarons is to fix the dreaded hollows!
I will admit that the biggest problem that I have had with making macarons is hollow shells.
Several things can cause hollow shells, including overmixing the batter, undermixing the batter, under-baking or incorrect oven temperature (usually too low).
After attempting to tackle all of these issues, I found that occasionally I still have slightly hollow shells. At least, they might be slightly hollow after baking and cooling.
But not one to waste ingredients because of slight imperfections, I just fill them and refrigerate them and tell my family to have at them.
Then magically I find that the hollows have disappeared after 24 hours in the fridge! So if you have hollow shells, don't throw them out.
Just fill them and give them some time to mature. They may not fill completely if the hollows were bad but they will still be delicious!
My family has never complained and neither will yours!
What is your favorite kind of Macaron? What is your favorite filling? Have you tried this Chocolate Macaron Recipe? Leave me a comment to let me know!
Chocolate & Raspberry Macarons
Ingredients
- 200 grams powdered sugar
- 115 grams almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 115 grams egg whites from about 4 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Raspberry Gelee
- 225 grams fresh or frozen raspberries
- 2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
- ⅛ cup water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 60 grams granulated sugar
For the White Chocolate Swiss Meringue
- 2 large egg whites
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 200 grams unsalted butter cubed, cool but not cold
- 60 grams white chocolate melted and cooled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 315F. To make the macaron batter, place almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder in a food processor. Pulse 10 times to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Rain in the granulated sugar very slowly. Whisk until they get to soft peaks. Add the vanilla and then whisk until they reach stiff peaks.
- Fold in ⅓ of the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until incorporated. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and then continue folding, just a couple of folds at a time, until the batter makes a figure 8 when allowed to drizzle off the spatula. Check the consistency often with the figure 8 test so that you don’t overbeat. Put the batter into a piping bag with a #12 piping tip. The easiest way to do this is to place the piping bag with the tip down into a large cup or glass. Fold the bag opening down over the rim of the glass.
- On the back of a sheet of parchment paper, draw 1-inch circles using a piping tip as a template (Wilton #1A) or use a silpat with macaron shapes printed on it. Flip paper over and pipe batter slightly smaller than the circles. Beat the pan 5 times against the counter, rotate, beat 5 more times. Set aside to dry for about 30 minutes. They are ready to bake when the piped macarons form a dry film over the top.
- Bake the macarons for 12 minutes or until the macarons easily release from the parchment paper or silpat.
Make the Raspberry Gelee
- Bloom the gelatin in the water in a small microwavable bowl. Process raspberries in a food processor by pulsing about 10 times, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a 2-quart saucepan. Add lemon juice and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes.
- Microwave gelatin for 15 seconds and add to raspberry puree. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin. Pour into a clingfilm lined pan and refrigerate until set.
Make the White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, heat the egg whites and sugar in a bain marie until it reaches 160F/70C, whisking the entire time. Put the bowl on the stand mixer and whisk with the whisk attachment until the bowl feels cool to the touch. Make sure that it feels cool before adding the butter!
- Switch to the paddle attachment. Add the butter, a small piece at a time. Allow each piece to become mostly incorporated before adding more. Add the white chocolate and mix. Continue mixing until the buttercream comes together. There is always a time that the buttercream looks like soup and I feel like it won’t come together. Just keep mixing! As long as the sugar syrup was cool before adding the butter, it will be fine! Put the buttercream in a piping bag with your choice of piping tips. You can also just cut the tip of the bag off if you don’t want to use piping tips.
Assemble
- Match up the macaron shells so that similar sizes are together. Set them in pairs on the counter and turn one over. Pipe a ring of buttercream near the edge of the one shell that is upside down. Place a bit of Raspberry Gelee inside the ring of buttercream. I like to use a piping tip to cut a perfect little circle of gelee. Place the other macaron on top and press and wiggle slightly to stick them together.
- Continue with the rest of your macarons. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
sallybr says
I was reading and nodding and smiling.... I sign below it all - like you, I've tried every single recipe out there that promises no-rest-success. Sorry, but they don't work as well as when you rest (the macarons, that is, although if you feel like resting, go for it too).
I am usually a bit afraid of adding chocolate to my shells but will use your proportions in a batch and hope for the best (I often get wavy, blotchy shells when I add cocoa)