Brigadeiro Macarons
Hello friends, today I am showing you how to make Brigadeiro Macarons.
These Brigadeiro Macarons have a chocolate macaron shell, and a fudgy brigadeiro filling. This filling is shelf stable for at least a couple of days and compliant with cottage food laws from most states.
Make sure to watch the video on YouTube or on this page to see how to make these beautiful Brigadeiro Macarons.
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Brigadeiros are a very popular treat in Brazil. It’s basically fudge made out of sweetened condensed milk. It usually gets rolled into truffles and dredged in sprinkles. And can be made into many different flavors, the options are really endless.
The traditional flavor is chocolate, and it’s made by cooking sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips (or cocoa powder), and butter in a saucepan over medium heat, while stirring non-stop, until the proper consistency is achieved.
The biggest trick when making brigadeiro to fill macarons, is to get the consistency right, because if you over cook the brigadeiro it will become too hard to pipe. And it can even break your piping bag when you are trying to pipe it if you cook it too long.
Besides being absolutely delicious, the biggest advantage of this brigadeiro filling for macarons is the fact that it’s shelf stable for a couple of days.
The brigadeiro won’t melt during hot weather, it will actually hold up pretty well.
If you wanted to ship macarons to anyone, brigadeiro would be a wonderful filling to do that because of the shelf life, and because it doesn’t melt easily.
Also, brigadeiro is compliant with the cottage food laws from most, if not all states in the United States, so if you have a home bakery and sell your macarons, this is a wonderful filling to have in your menu.
Brigadeiro Macarons freeze extremely well, for 1 to 2 months, and the filling doesn’t make the shells soggy either.
Brigadeiro itself also freezes wonderfully. If you roll the brigadeiro truffles and place them in the freezer, they will last quite a long time, and they won’t harden all the way in the freezer, so they don’t even have to thaw for long before serving, just about 30 minutes sitting at room temperature straight from the freezer should do it.
Tips for making Brigadeiro Macarons
- Don’t over cook the brigadeiro, because it will be super hard, almost impossible to pipe. If the brigadeiro becomes too hard to pipe, simply make a new batch, and cook a bit less time. But never ever toss brigadeiro, you can roll into truffles, or eat with a spoon, which is my favorite way.
- If you put the brigadeiro in the fridge, it can get too hard to pipe. The brigadeiro can stay fine at room temperature for one day. If you do place the brigadeiro in the fridge, simply remove it from the fridge, add couple of teaspoons of cream to the brigadeiro and microwave gently for a few seconds, stir, and check if you would be able to pipe. You may need to microwave for a few more seconds, or add another couple of teaspoons of heavy cream to achieve the desired consistency, however, if you add too much cream, it might become too runny.
- Please notice that if the filling is hard to pipe, it’s probably because you over cooked the brigadeiro. But don’t toss it, simply do the same procedure as explained above for the refrigerated brigadeiro, add a couple of teaspoons of heavy cream and microwave gently, stirring until a smoother consistency is achieved.
- Brigadeiro stays wonderful at room temperature for up to 1 or even 2 days.
- Brigadeiro is compliant with cottage food laws in most states, and it has a wonderful shelf-life.
- Use a pan with a heavy bottom to cook brigadeiros, it will prevent the mixture from sticking, and it will prevent scorching.
- Once the brigadeiro is falling into chunks off the spatula and coming off the bottom of the pan, it might be time to stop cooking.
- I recommend you watch the video to easily be able to identify the proper consistency for the brigadeiro.
If you like this recipe, here are some posts for you to check out:
- Brigadeiro Recipe
- Coconut Brigadeiro
- Dulce de Leche Brigadeiro (churros brigadeiros)
- Brigadeiro Macaron Cake
- Key Lime Pie Macarons (filled with key lime pie brigadeiro)
- Coconut Fudge Macarons
- Key Lime Brigadeiros
- Pumpkin Brigadeiros
- Brazilian Carrot Cupcakes with Brigadeiro Frosting
I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe!
Brigadeiro Macarons
Ingredients
Chocolate Macaron Shells
- 1 recipe for Chocolate Macaron Shells click here for the recipe
Brigadeiros
- 1 14 oz. can condensed milk 396 grams
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate 42 to 85 grams (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 14 grams
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
Brigadeiro
- Place the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, butter, and heavy cream in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom. The heavy bottom is important because it prevents the brigadeiro from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Over medium heat, cook the mixture, constantly stirring. The chocolate will start to melt, and the mixture will start to get fudgy and thick. Don't stop stirring at any point, or the brigadeiro will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
- Cook until the brigadeiro is thick, falling into chunks off the spatula, and when you run the spatula through the middle, you can see the bottom of the pan.
- It should take about 10 to 15 minutes to cook a single batch, if you double the batch it can take a bit longer to cook. Time cooking will depend on how high the heat is.
- You will know that the brigadeiro is ready to go when you tilt the pan over and all of the brigadeiro comes out from the bottom of the pan easily.
- Remove brigadeiro to a heat proof bowl. Let it cool down. You want to pipe the brigadeiro when it’s a room temperature.
- If you put it in the fridge, it can get too hard to pipe. The brigadeiro can stay fine at room temperature for one day. If you do place the brigadeiro in the fridge, simply remove it from the fridge, add couple of teaspoons of cream to the brigadeiro and microwave gently for a few seconds, stir, and check if you would be able to pipe. You may need to microwave for a few more seconds, or add another couple of teaspoons of heavy cream to achieve the desired consistency, however, if you add too much cream, it might become too runny.
- Please notice that if the filling is hard to pipe, it’s probably because you over cooked the brigadeiro. But don’t toss it, simply do the same procedure as explained above for the refrigerated brigadeiro, add a couple of teaspoons of heavy cream and microwave gently, stirring until a smoother consistency is achieved.
To assemble
- Once the brigadeiro is at room temperature, put it in a piping bag fitted with the tip of choice, I used a tip 1M, and also a round tip to pipe the filling on the macarons from the pictures above.
- Pipe on the bottom macaron shells. Top with another macaron.
- I rolled the sides of some of the filled macarons in sprinkles. Others, I have dipped half of the filled macarons in melted chocolate, and then dipped it in sprinkles, used my hands to pat the sprinkles down so they would stick well. And for my third decoration technique, I just drizzled chocolate on top of the shells and topped with sprinkles while the chocolate was still wet.
Storage
- Keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days, and in the freezer for up to 1 month. Make sure to package macarons really well in an air tight container to place it in the fridge
Esses doces são covardia, muito gostosos!!!!!
Que delícia!! Yummmmyy!!!😋😋😋😋😋👏👏👏👏🎉🎉
Obrigada!! ❤️
Do you have an italian-method equivalent for this recipe???? These days, I”m having more success with italian.
Hi! I’ve been working my way through all your recipes! Lol Thank you!
At what point do you add the sprinkles to the brigadeiros? Right after piping on the macaron? Before or after adding second macaron? Thanks!
Great question! So I piped the brigadeiro, then placed the shell on top and then dipped the sides in sprinkles. you have to do it quickly so the brigadeiro doesn’t start to dry because then the sprinkles might not stick 🙂
Thank you Jessica!!
Thank you so much for the fast response. I think I made the brigadeiro too thick and am not going to be able to pipe it so I’m going to have to wing it. Too thick but very delicious!!
I’ve done that so many times 🙈 specially if I switch the brand of condensed milk then I may mess up the consistency because some brands just seem to be thicker, and some less. Anyway, I am sorry it came out too thick, but I am glad you enjoy the taste! It’s one of my favorite things in the world!!
If it is too thick to pipe is there a way to thin it a little bit???
There isn’t, sorry!! I have tried melting it before and didnt work so well. Maybe you could give it a try and place it over a double boiler for a bit, or inside of a large bowl filled with hot water. something like that, but I cant guarantee that it will work, because the fudge was just over cooked, so you cant un-cook it at this point.
These turned out so good! The fudge center and chewy shell reminded me of a brownie. It has been my 2021 goal to perfect macarons and I love your recipes because they are so technical and turn out delicious every time!!!
awe omg that’s so lovely to hear!!!
Thank you so much for answering me! I have really been enjoying your recipes! I ended up
Using the filling and going to see how they taste. It’s delicious regardless, my kids rolled the extra filling in sprinkles — win either way!
it sounds delicious, replying to your comment earlier made me crave brigadeiros haha and now even more!
I can’t wait to try this filling recipe! Do you pipe it immediately after cooking it or can it be chilled & piped another day? Also, do you think these would freeze well inside a macaron? Hoping to make a batch for Mother’s Day!
It can’t be chilled, if you chill it, it won’t pipe. It has to be at exactly room temperature. And yes they freeze wonderful once filled.
For the brigadeiro, is it ok to use chocolate melts, or will it make everything too firm?
so ive never tried it, it’s worth a try
This looks amazing. I love your macaron recipes. They turn out perfect every time! I wonder could you make these with white chocolate? And add various flavours to make fruit flavoured brigadeiro?
Also it can be quite hard to find ‘dairy’ condensed milk here. All i get is non dairy sweetened creamer. Would that work? Would the consistency be the same?
you can use white chocolate. and it needs to be dairy sweetened condensed milk, non dairy sweetened creamer will definitely not work as it’s not the same thing.
Hi Camila! I love your recipes and am going to try this one next. 🙂 You mentioned though not to chill it before piping, but once filled I’m assuming the macarons can be kept in the refrigerator and then just brought to room temp before eating and it would soften similar to a ganache. Is that correct?
yes for sure. absolutely.
Hi – can I fill and freeze the macs and defrost in fridge? How will consistency be? Thanks
Also – have you tried with white chocolate using gingerbread spices for Mac filling? Can I use molasses in this recipe? Ty
you could definitely add molasses, i would add like 1 tsp or so. And you can add spices too.
and yes they can be frozen, and no need to defrost, they thaw in like 20 minutes at room temp.