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Classic Cake Recipes with a Modern Twist

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Home » Macarons » Chocolate Macarons

Chocolate Macarons

By Olivia, 29 Comments

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These chocolate macarons are the perfect sweet treat! Chocolate cookies filled with a rich dark chocolate ganache.

A close up of a chocolate macaron

It’s no secret that I have a mild obsession with these delicate confections. The first time I made these was in Paris when I registered for a one-day class on making macarons. One and a half years later, I finally made them for the second time during my first week of pastry school. These days, it’s a regular occurrence. This is the first recipe I’m posting, and it’s based off the one we made in school: Chocolate Macarons with a Dark Chocolate Ganache. Ok, the ganache at school was actually hazelnut, but I didn’t have the ingredients for that at home.

Macaron shells on a baking sheet.

Macarons are actually not the easiest things to make. The ingredients are so simple! But it’s the technique that can make or break them. Under-mix the batter and you’ll get lumpy, feet-less, cracked cookies. Over-mix it and they’ll be flat as pancakes and likely uneven. I still have a hard time getting the batter just right, and more often than not I have to dump it out of my piping bag back into the bowl because I haven’t mixed it enough. It can be very frustrating.

Close up of macarons shells on a baking sheet.

When they turn out though… it could be the best feeling ever.

Sandwiched cookies in a row.

Heavenly.

Close up of chocolate macaron.
 

Looking for more Macaron recipes?

  • Oreo Macarons
  • Valentine’s Heart Macarons
  • S’mores Macarons
  • Coffee & Baileys Macarons
  • Eggnog Macarons

Tips for these Chocolate Macarons:

  • The measurements listed are by weight and I strongly recommend using a scale for macarons. They are incredibly finicky and temperamental, so the ingredients have to be precise. I do not have cup measurements for these.
  • You will need to do a LOT of folds to get the batter to the proper consistency. This might take some trial and error.
  • Do not skip on the drying time. This is a MUST DO. They must be completely dry to the touch before you bake them or they will crack.
  • If they don’t come out perfect the first time (they rarely do), know that they will still taste delicious! Looks aren’t everything! 🙂
A close up of a chocolate macaron
Print Pin Rate
4.82 from 11 votes

Chocolate Macarons

These chocolate macarons are the perfect sweet treat! Chocolate cookies filled with a rich dark chocolate ganache.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Cookie
Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 10 sandwiched cookies
Calories 173kcal
Author Olivia

Ingredients

Chocolate Macarons:

  • 70 g almond flour
  • 55 g powdered sugar
  • 8 g Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 60 g egg whites room temperature
  • 65 g granulated sugar

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

  • 100 g dark chocolate chopped
  • 67 g heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Chocolate Macarons:

  • Line baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment.*
  • Place the almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder in a food processor. Process until it just begins to clump.
  • Sift and discard any bits that won't pass through the sifter. Set aside.
  • Whip the egg whites until they're the consistency of a loose foam. Continue whipping while slowly adding sugar. Whip to a stiff meringue.
  • Fold the dry mixture into the meringue.**
  • Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with the 1A tip. Pipe the macarons onto your baking sheet.
  • When all your macarons are piped, whack the baking sheet on the counter at least 3 times to get rid of any air bubbles.***
  • Let the macarons dry at room temperature until dry to the touch. Approx 1 hour. DO NOT skip this step.
  • Once dry, bake macarons in a 300°F oven until they stick a little bit to the pans. This can be anywhere from 10-20mins depending on your oven and how crowded the macarons are on the pan.
  • Let cookies cool completely before removing from pans.

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

  • Place the finely chopped chocolate into a bowl. Heat the cream until it just barely starts to simmer. Immediately pour over chopped chocolate. Do not stir! Cover the bowl with plastic wrap for 2 mins. Stir to emulsify ganache. Place in fridge to set.****

Assembly:

  • Match up cookies by size into pairs. Using a piping bag fitted with the 1A tip, pipe ganache into the center, sandwich the cookies and twist together.
  • Refrigerate macarons overnight to allow them to mature and soften.

Recipes You May Like

  • Heart macarons on a plate.
    Valentine's Heart Macarons
  • Macarons in a white bowl.
    Coffee & Baileys Macarons
  • A close up of oreo macarons
    Oreo Macarons (French Macarons)
  • Stack of macarons on a wooden table.
    S'mores Macarons

Notes

* I create a parchment template using a 1 1/2" cookie cutter to create circles and place it under my silpat mat.
** You will need to do a LOT of folds to get the batter to the proper consistency. You're looking for it to be smooth and shiny and have some movement. If you lift some up with a spatula, it should pour in a steady stream and settle into the remaining batter. DO NOT overmix.
*** Do not be shy with the whacking!
**** If the ganache has some unmelted bits after stirring, heat over a simmering bain marie.
Calories: 173kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 14mgPotassium: 98mgFiber: 2gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 100IUCalcium: 27mgIron: 1.6mg
The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

 

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Originally published Jan 18, 2015.Chocolate macarons collage

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January 15, 2018

Comments

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Cerian says

    January 15, 2021 at 9:21 AM

    5 stars
    Love your recipes! I made these-my first ever attempt at macarons- and they came out perfectly! Thank you for such an easy to follow recipe! I didn’t have any cream so instead of ganache I filled them with your fresh strawberry SMB. They look divine, wish I could post a pic! haven’t got to the taste test yet, my hubby will be my guisea pig after dinner, but I’m sure they will be delicious!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      January 15, 2021 at 4:06 PM

      Hi Cerian! Thank you! I am so happy they came out for you 🙂 I would love to see a pic. You can email me at [email protected] 🙂

      Reply
  2. Sass says

    December 22, 2020 at 11:33 PM

    5 stars
    First time making macarons and these came out fantastic! A few lopsided shells from my piping, but they all had feet and no hollow shells. And the couple I snuck before filling and refrigerating tasted great too 😋

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      December 23, 2020 at 9:10 AM

      Hi Sass! Yay! So happy these turned out well for you 🙂

      Reply
  3. Allison Emmons says

    September 5, 2020 at 11:36 AM

    5 stars
    Seriously the BEST macaron recipe I’ve used! So many other recipes call for cream of tartar to help along the egg whites but you truly don’t need it. Thank you for the recipe! Do you have any suggestions for just a plain macaron shell without the cocoa powder? Should we just opt the 8g of cocoa powder and sub an extra 4g powder sugar and 4g almond flour?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      September 8, 2020 at 4:56 PM

      Hi Allison! I’m so happy you love it! I agree that the CoT isn’t necessary 🙂 For a plain macaron shell swap the 8g of cocoa for 8g more of almond flour.

      Reply
  4. Allison Emmons says

    September 5, 2020 at 11:34 AM

    5 stars
    Seriously the BEST macaroni recipe I’ve used! So many other recipes call for cream of tartar to help along the egg whites but you truly don’t need it. Thank you for the recipe! Do you have any suggestions for just a plain macaroni shell without the cocoa powder? Should we just opt the 8g of cocoa powder and sub an extra 4g powder sugar and 4g almond flour?

    Reply
  5. Jessica says

    August 22, 2019 at 10:36 AM

    5 stars
    This has been my go-to recipe for chocolate Macarons for the past year, they always turn out amazing! Thanks so much for sharing and for all of your tips!!!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      August 23, 2019 at 10:30 AM

      Hi Jessica! Thanks so much for the feedback, I’m so glad you love these!

      Reply
  6. Isabella says

    May 27, 2019 at 10:18 PM

    5 stars
    Can I use regular coco powder instead of dutch processed?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      May 28, 2019 at 9:48 AM

      Hi Isabella! Yes, that should work fine.

      Reply
  7. Betsy says

    April 6, 2019 at 11:13 AM

    5 stars
    I made these twice, the first time I over cooked them but the second time I baked them for 14 minutes and OMG…. Amazing! They taste better after 24 hours. Light crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside and not too sweet. Aside from the recipe, I highly recommend watching videos on how macaroons are made.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 8, 2019 at 10:08 AM

      Hi Betsy! I love macarons 24 hours later too! So glad you liked this recipe 🙂

      Reply
  8. Sarah says

    March 26, 2019 at 8:44 PM

    I’ve been obsessed with macarons, and I’m trying to perfect them this week for a tea party this weekend. Your recipe will be my 6th attempt for perfect macarons. Anyway, I followed the directions perfectly, and they have been sitting on my counter for the past 40 minutes and are still very wet! Is this just an overl wet batter, or do you think I did something wrong?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      March 27, 2019 at 2:03 PM

      Hi Sarah! Is it super humid where you are? Hot humid or rainy humid? It takes a lot longer for macarons to dry in humid temps and sometimes they don’t at all! Did you follow the directions and measurements exactly as written?

      Reply
  9. Kat says

    February 7, 2019 at 7:57 PM

    Hello olivia,

    I love your recipe! My only question is, will this recipe be ok if I double it or would you recommend making 2 separate batches?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      February 10, 2019 at 3:50 PM

      Hi Kat! Yes, doubling should work just fine!

      Reply
  10. Kate says

    December 16, 2018 at 9:49 AM

    5 stars
    This recipe is amazing. Thank you for sharing! I was using a different recipe that tastes great, but the measurements were slightly off. I have made four batches using this recipe. They came out perfect every time. They are beautiful and delicious. I started adding a bit of salt and vanilla to the mix. YUM!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      December 17, 2018 at 1:44 PM

      Hi Kate! So happy to hear that, glad you like them!

      Reply
  11. Madhu says

    September 30, 2018 at 5:42 AM

    5 stars
    Hi Olivia,
    For the egg whites can we use egg whites from the carton? If not do you have a recipe for all the egg yellows:)

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      October 1, 2018 at 12:04 PM

      Hi Madhu! I have not had success with carton whites — they never whip up for me! For the yolks, you can use those to make a lemon curd or pudding or something similar 🙂

      Reply
  12. Julia says

    August 6, 2018 at 8:07 PM

    5 stars
    I decided this looked like a good first macaron recipe to try. I’m super excited to say they turned out really well!! I was worried I didn’t fold it well enough because the batter was a bit thick but they didn’t crack and they tasted amazing!!! I feel like this is a great recipe for first timers because it makes a small batch and only has a few ingredients. I’m so excited to make them again. 💕

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      August 7, 2018 at 8:56 AM

      Hi Julia! So happy to hear that these worked for you on your first attempt! Glad you liked them 🙂

      Reply
  13. Stephanie Liptak says

    April 26, 2018 at 7:32 AM

    I am very interested in making these but what temperature would the oven need to be set to?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 26, 2018 at 2:43 PM

      Hi Stephanie! The temperature is further down in the instructions as the macarons need to sit out for a bit. It’s 300F 🙂

      Reply
  14. Dimple says

    April 26, 2017 at 1:23 PM

    Hi Liv, i am going to try making macarons for the first time this weekend and i’m a little nervous. So i have a question do i have to use Dutch-processed Cocoa powder? I only have the regular cocoa powder. In addition what is the difference between the 2 types of cocoa powder?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 26, 2017 at 5:57 PM

      Hi Dimple! You can use regular cocoa powder and it shouldn’t be an issue. Dutch-processed cocoa has had the acid stripped out of it so it has a richer flavour and color. Regular cocoa powder should be just fine though! And good luck! Remember, even if they don’t turn out perfect, they will still taste delicious 🙂

      Reply
  15. Janhvi says

    June 12, 2016 at 4:07 AM

    3 stars
    Hey Olivia could you suggest the vegan way for the same recipe as I do not prefer eggs! please!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      June 12, 2016 at 9:31 AM

      Hi Janhvi, egg whites are the base of all macarons so it won’t be a true macaron if you try to make them without eggs. You can try to google for vegan macaron recipes?

      Reply
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