Chocolate Macarons

Today we are keeping it basic, with these Chocolate Macarons.

And I when I say keeping it basic, of course I mean keeping it BASICally AWESOME!

Here at Pies and Tacos, I share lots and lots of macaron recipes.

I have tons of macaron ideas. I literally keep a list around with the title: Macaron Ideas. And everyday I write down some ideas for macaron flavors. Some come true, some not. Some merge.

But one day, I didn’t have so many macaron ideas. In the past, I struggled with macarons. I kept failing at making them. So I started to dive deep and research, and experiment with every tip I could find online that would work for me.

And now that I have some knowledge, and an immense amount of tips and tricks, I get to teach you how to master your own macarons.

I’ve always loved being a teacher. My mom is a teacher, and a good one. When I was growing up, playing school with my sister, and playing in the kitchen were my favorite activities.

Which is why you shouldn’t be surprised to find out that just a little before I started my blog Pies and Tacos, I was thinking about going to school to be a teacher.

I was a first grade class assistant for 4 years back in Brazil (2008), while I was going to college. And I’ve always really loved teaching.

Teaching is so special to me, because anytime I am teaching something, I always feel like I am learning more than I am actually teaching.

When you are teaching something that you already know, it’s like you are learning it with different eyes, because you have to externalize and put into easy words and sentences what that concept means, so someone else can also understand it. Learning how to teach a concept gives you a deeper understanding of that concept.

With that being said, that’s the reason why I started writing a Macaron ebook, which is in the works right now. I’ve talked about it on my last post, if you haven’t seen it (which is actually another macaron recipe, Neapolitan Macarons.)

Anyway, like I always say, if you want to learn how to make macarons, master the mindset first.

Online, you will find an immense amount of tips on how to make macarons, macaron recipes, different methods, foolproof instructions, etc. However, you should know that not all tips are going to work for you. Not all methods are going to work for you. Take notes of what works, discard what doesn’t work.

Try again, and again. You probably will have to. Unless maybe you have the fortune of quickly mastering macarons. That’s fantastic too. If that was your experience, that’s amazing. However, some people (like me) do go through a struggle period with macarons, when going over the learning curve. It’s a matter of sitting with it, keeping at it, taking the failures as big lessons of what not to make next time, or what to change.

Please wish you make all the mistakes with macarons sooner rather than later, so then you’ll quickly know what not to do.

And trust me, stick with it, and it will work for you. I hope my tips offer some help.

If you want to check out some macaron recipes, and tips, I have a few suggestions of some of my most popular/favorite posts for you:

• Toffee Macarons
• Brownie Macarons
• M&M’s Macarons
• Cookie Dough Macarons
• Caramel Popcorn Macarons
• Blackberry Macarons
• Dulce de Leche Macarons
• Coffee Macarons
• Pistachio Macarons
• Lemon Macarons
• Matcha Macarons

Ok, so can we quickly talk about these Chocolate Macarons, since they are the star of the night?

They are super simple, easy Chocolate Macarons.

The chocolate macaron shells are simply my favorite! I just got this new silicone mat, and I absolutely love the way it baked my macarons. So much better than parchment paper.

What’s better for baking macarons: parchment paper or silicon mat?

Hands down silicon mat. With the parchment paper, I would often get uneven bottoms on my macaron shells. You can even see it on some of my older macaron posts.

Ever since I started making macarons using a silicon mat instead of a parchment paper, I never looked back!

Check out below what I mean about the uneven bottoms. The first picture is my Neapolitan Macarons, and the second is my Banoffee Macarons.

Now let’s move on to that delicious rich frosting in the middle of the chocolate macaron shells.

This super dark and rich chocolate frosting is amazing, and will completely blow your mind.

It only takes 5 ingredients, and about 5 minutes to put this super rich Chocolate Frosting together. Go for it, see for yourself!

Check out my Brownie Macarons post. Where I also give a lot of tips on how to troubleshoot your oven when baking macarons!

I have a lot of tips and resources in all of my macaron posts that can help you in your macaron baking journey, so make sure to check them out!!

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE MACARON POSTS!

As always, I really appreciate you being here and reading my posts, and recipes!! Thank you! Have a lovely day. Happy baking!!

Ps. this is the container I use to store my macarons and specially if I want to freeze them. Make sure you use an air-tight container if you want to freeze your macarons!

This page contains affiliate links. Which means that every time you make a purchase of an item you clicked through my website, I receive a percentage from Amazon. It doesn’t cost anything extra to you, but helps my blog! Thanks!

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Chocolate Macarons

These are some rich chocolate macarons, with a dark and indulgent filling. Enjoy this detailed recipe to make your favorite gluten-free cookies!

Course Dessert

Cuisine French, Gluten-Free

Keyword chocolate, macarons

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings 20 macarons

Calories 120 kcal

Ingredients

Chocolate Macaron Shells

• 3  egg whites 100 grams 3.5 oz
• 1/2  cup  white sugar 100 grams 3.5 oz
• 1  cup  almond flour 96 grams 3.4 oz
• 1/2  cup  plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 75 grams 2.64 oz
• 2 1/2  tablespoons  cocoa powder 14 grams 0.8 oz

Rich Chocolate Frosting

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-4 tablespoons milk

Instructions

Chocolate Macaron Shells

1. Before you start, get all of your ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mat.
3. Under my parchment, I put a layout with circles that measure about 1 1/2 inches each. That’s how big I like to pipe my macarons.
4. Measure out all of your ingredients.
5. Sift powdered sugar, almond flour, and cocoa powder together. Set aside.
6. Now you can finally start.
7. Place egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or in a double boiler. Over a pan of simmering water, whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and sugar completely melted. It will take a couple minutes.
8. Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water.
9. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. (I use my kitchenAid bowl when doing this, because it makes it easier)
10. With the whisk attachment, whisk mixture on high speed for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
11. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
12. You don’t want to overbeat the mixture at this point, because you don’t want to add too much air to it. Just whisk until stiff peaks have formed.
13. Pour powdered sugar and almond flour into stiff whites.
14. Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
15. It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this, and you might have to have a couple failed batches before you get this right.
16. First, I pick up some batter with my spatula and try to form a figure 8. If the 8 forms without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.
17. Then, I grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto my parchment paper or silicon mat.
18. If the batter stays stiff and doesn’t spread out a bit, I start folding a little bit more, about 3 folds.
19. Test again.
20. Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy on the parchment paper, I transfer my mixture to the piping bag.
21. You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It’s always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
22. This is the most important part about making macarons in my opinion.
23. Once you’ve piped as many 1 1/2” circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each. This will release air bubbles that are in the batter and prevent your macaron shells from cracking.
24. Let your trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.
25. Pre-heat the oven to 325F.
26. Bake one tray at a time.
27. Bake for 4 minutes, rotate tray.
28. Bake for 4 more minutes, check if it needs to be rotated again. You will know if it needs to be rotated again depending on how the macarons are baking. Take a look at them, if one side seems taller then the other, maybe you have to rotate the tray again.

29. Bake for around 4 more minutes or so. I would say I bake for a total of 18-20 minutes.

30. When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. And they will peel off the tray easily.

31. Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
32. Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.

Rich Chocolate Frosting

1. Start by sifting the powdered sugar, and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Add softened butter to the mixer bowl, and cream on medium-high speed for 1 minute.
3. With the mixer off, add powdered sugar, and cocoa powder sifted mixture.
4. Mix on low until dry ingredients are incorporated with the butter.
5. Raise speed to medium-high, and cream from 30 -60 seconds, until smooth.
6. Add vanilla and mix.
7. Add milk if necessary for consistency.
8. Frosting should be smooth, thick, not too stiff. Add more milk if the frosting is too stiff, and add more powdered sugar if your frosting is too runny and you went overboard with the milk.
9. Always remember the a little bit of liquid here goes a long way, so you don’t want to be adding too much milk to your frosting.

To assemble

1. Place frosting in a piping bag and pipe on top of half of the macarons. Top with another macaron.

Storage

1. Keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days, and in the freezer for up to 1-2 month. Make sure to package macarons really well in an air tight container to place it in the fridge.