The perfect combination of Coffee & Baileys in macaron form. Light-as-air cookies with a Baileys chocolate ganache.
Once I felt pretty comfortable with the chocolate macarons it was time to start trying different combinations. In my opinion one of the best flavor combos out there is coffee & Baileys. SO delicious. Especially in the winter time when it’s cold outside. Yum.
I wanted to start experimenting with different flavors of shells. I had a recipe for chocolate macarons, but had to adapt it to a coffee flavor… if I take out the cocoa powder, do I add more almond powder or icing sugar? Do I add the same amount of espresso powder as cocoa? That would be way too intense…hmmm.
I actually ended up leaving all of the ingredient amounts the same except I took out the cocoa powder and added espresso powder…not 1 for 1 though! I also doubled the recipe entirely as the original recipe only makes 10-12 cookies. Ten cookies will last about a day around here.
The coffee cookies turned out delicious and the milk chocolate Baileys ganache was a perfect pairing. You can make these with dark chocolate instead, but I like the sweetness of the milk with the Baileys.
You definitely can’t have just one. At least I can’t!
Notes & tips for these Coffee & Baileys Macarons:
- The measurements listed are by weight. I strongly recommend using a scale for macarons. They are incredibly finicky and temperamental, so the ingredients have to be precise.
- You will need to do a LOT of folds to get them to the proper consistency.
- 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! 🙂
Coffee & Baileys Macarons
Ingredients
Coffee Macarons:
- 120 g egg whites room temperature
- 130 g granulated sugar
- 140 g almond flour
- 110 g powdered sugar
- 2 tsp instant espresso powder (not granules)
Baileys Milk Chocolate Ganache:
- 200 g milk chocolate
- 100 g heavy
- 20 g Baileys
Instructions
Coffee Macarons:
- Line baking sheets with a silpat mat or parchment.*
- Place the almond powder, icing sugar, and espresso powder in a food processor. Process until just beginning 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.
- While macarons are drying, make the ganache.
Baileys Milk Chocolate Ganache:
- Chop the chocolate finely and place in a bowl. Heat the cream until boiling and pour over chopped chocolate. Do not stir! Cover bowl with plastic wrap for 2 mins. Stir to combine and add Baileys. Place in fridge to set.****
- 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.
- Pipe ganache into the center, sandwich the cookies and twist together.
Notes
**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.
April says
I made these today and they came out perfect! Feet and all! This was my first attempt and I was thrilled. I measured all the ingredients and took my time. How fun 🙂
Olivia says
Yay! I am so happy to hear that! And seriously impressed for your first time. Glad you liked them 😀
Beth says
Hi there,
I just made these today and they turned out pretty close to perfect, especially for only my second time making macarons! I do have a question though, about how much ganache to you put in the centers? I seem to put just a little too much or not enough. Can’t seem to get it right. But they still taste wonderful! Couldn’t wait till tomorrow to try them 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Beth! I’m so glad these turned out for you! Macarons are no small feat, so huge kudos considering it was only your second time. Regarding the ganache — I kinda pipe a little dollop on top (not to the edges) then squish them together. More often than not though, some are over/underfilled. If they look underfilled, sometimes I would separate the cookies and add a bit more; overfilled I wouldn’t squish down so much. This probably doesn’t really answer your question, but it’s how I work around the imperfections :).
Kristine says
Hi !
I am excited to try these, bought a scale and everything. Do you prefer to use a silicon mat or parchment paper ? I hear different things.
Thank you !
Olivia says
Hi Kristine! I prefer silicone mats myself as I find that the parchment paper tends to wrinkle under the macarons as they sit, causing uneven bottoms. They are slightly easier to peel off of the parchment, but I would still prefer to use the silicone. I hope that helps! Let me know how they turn out 🙂
Tessa says
Hi Olivia,
Just came across your recipe on pinterest, and I thought: wow, I should totally try this. I had never made macarons before and I knew they could be tricky, but they turned out to be perfect! Thanks a lot :).
Olivia says
Hi Tessa! I’m so glad you liked these! And that they turned out :).
Courtney says
Do you have a recipe for basic vanilla macarons? I love yours but want to get a plain recipe down so I can change in/add flavors from there.
Olivia says
Hi Courtney! I don’t have one specifically, but you can just leave the espresso powder out if you want plain ones :).
Jill says
Does altitude cause problems? I tried these today and the cookies didn’t get that nice rough rim and the top cracked. We can bet nice macaron here in Calgary si I know it’s doable! The ganache is quite runny after 2 hr in the fridge. Should I have used heavy cream rather than coffee cream?
Jill says
The cookies are still very tasty and they will be lovely dipped in the ganache sauce!
Olivia says
That’s the thing with macarons, even if they don’t turn out perfect (they rarely do), they still taste amazing! 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Jill! Altitude could for sure cause issues, as could humidity, but it sounds like maybe overmixing could have been the culprit? Or maybe, weren’t dry enough before going into the oven? And yes, heavy cream would work better I think! It should not be too runny, but not super thick either. Soft, but pipeable :).
France says
Hi everyone, nope not that good so far haha.. as soon as I put my mixture into the meringue, it all went watery!
Will try again but hope this helps. did conversion of g into tsp.. its a pain in the but but its precise.
4 egg whites
1 cup of sugar
140g = 28 tsp almond powder
110g = 22 tsp icing sugar
2 tsp espresso powder
200g = 40 tsp milk chocolate
100g = 20 tsp cream
20g = 4 tsp Baileys
Will try again! will take a little longer counting but I know nothing of grams! Hope this works now
Olivia says
Hi! At a quick glance, I think your sugar amount is too high. 1 cup of sugar is about 200g… I can’t guarantee the results with your measurements, but I hope they work out!
Also, in case it helps:
3 tsp = 1 Tbsp
12 tsp = 4 Tbps = 1/4 cup
Good luck!! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Amanda says
I LOVE Baileys and I’ve always wanted to try making macaroons, which is a little scary because I do struggle with egg whites … I’m still determined to try it one day. Only problem is that I’m allergic to almonds. Is there something I can use instead of almond meal?
Olivia says
Hi Amanda! You can use any other nut flour/powder such as hazelnut or pistachio. I hope you try them!
Carol says
I’ve made macarons twice now with very good success but I’d like them to be whiter not more a cappicino colour when baked…I have done one batch with convection at 290f and the other (at another time) @320f on regular bake with the same results.Do you have any suggestions to keep them lighter in colour .
Olivia says
Hi Carol! I struggle with that too and am convinced that it comes down to oven temperature and baking time. It’s tricky though because messing with the oven temperature could affect the structure of the macarons too! I would try baking them at 300F on regular bake — it’s what I use. Every oven is different though too, so that adds a whole ‘nother level of complexity! Let me know your results 🙂
Emma says
Hi just wondering what percent of cream is used for these?Also can only parchment paper be used or is it better for these finicky cookies to be on a silpat mat?
Olivia says
Hi Emma! It looks like the whipping cream I use is 8% fat, which seems low actually. As long as you use any kind of heavy cream or whipping cream for this (not half and half), you’ll be fine!
You can totally use parchment for these! The bottoms of the macs may end up a bit rippled due to the resting time on the paper, but it will work perfectly fine. They’re actually easier to remove from parchment as well.
Hope that helps! Please let me know how they turn out for you :).
San Chandra says
The ganache is yummy but turned out very runny….any suggestions on how to get it to a thicker consistency?
Olivia says
Hi San! The ganache should not be runny at all. Did you let it sit in the fridge?
San Chandra says
Yes, it sat in the fridge overnight. Was it possibly our conversions? We did 1/2 cup of the cream, 1 cup of the chocolate, and we used Rumchata instead of Baileys….could that be the problem? If so, is there anything we can add to get it thicker? It is not as runny as it was last night, but will still definitely not thick enough for the macarons.
Olivia says
Hmm, I suspect it was the conversion — 100g of cream is less than 1/2 cup (it’s approx 100ml) and I don’t know exactly how many grams your 1 cup of chocolate was (was it chopped? or chocolate chips?). How much of the Rumchata did you use? I would recommend either using more chocolate or less cream next time to ensure the ratio is better :).
Olivia says
Oh! And to make it thicker now — just add in more melted chocolate and let it set again 🙂 It IS salvageable 🙂
Gillian says
Could you do the ganache with white chocolate instead?
Olivia says
Hi Gillian, yep! That would work fine.
Kim says
Hi, i was wondering do you add the sugar to the meringue dry or do you need to heat it to certain temp?
Olivia says
Hi Kim, This is the French method for making macarons so you add the dry sugar to the whipped egg whites. The Italian method calls for heating sugar to a certain temp.
Cheryl Metters says
Hi can you tell me if almond powder is the same as ground almonds please
Olivia says
Hi Cheryl! Yes, same thing basically. You just want to make sure the almonds are very finely ground!
Chun says
Hi, can I get the recipe for 10-12 macarons? Because I’m a beginner.. so I want to make just a few first. Actually I failed on first attempt.. the 2nd attempt was a success but failed again on 3rd. So I kinda traumatized, but I won’t give up. I want to try again with your recipe! 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Chun, macarons are so finicky! Glad they worked out for you and that you’re going to keep trying! Because this recipe is in grams, it’s really easy to modify. If you want just 10-12 macarons, cut the recipe in half :).
Annie Y says
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that your macarons are BOMB! They are so pretty too! Did they come out full on the inside for you?
Olivia says
Thanks Annie!! Macarons are so tricky. SOMEtimes they come out full, sometimes not. Sometimes they crack, sometimes perfectly smooth. They are very temperamental!
Homemade & Yummy says
I have yet to make macarons….and these sound wonderful. Will print and put in my “to make” pile!! Thanks!!
Olivia says
Thank you! Let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Randa @ TBK says
Oh my goodness! These look amazing Olivia!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Randa!! 🙂
Jennifer Stewart says
These are absolutely gorgeous! Mine never turn out so perfect! Definitely going to try again with this recipe!
Olivia says
Thanks Jennifer! I struggle with these too sometimes, they’re so finicky! I made these 3 times and the first 2 were a total flop!
Jaimee says
Could you please put these measurements in cups, ml or oz.
This conversion is impossible – I have been working on it for 2 hours and my meringue won’t peak. I have no way of knowing if I have the proper amount because the conversion of such small grammage doesn’t give me precise answers.
Livforcake says
Hi Jaimee, sorry to hear that you’ve been having problems with the meringue! Macarons are incredibly finicky and the measurements need to be precise which is why I use a food scale and grams. That’s the only way to ensure you have the exact amounts needed.
Here is a rough translation of the quantities to oz, though I can’t guarantee results as I’ve only ever used grams. You’d still need a food scale to weigh out the ingredients. Converting to cups is difficult because you’d need something like 0.65 cups of sugar, etc so it would be hard to eyeball.
4 large egg whites (approx.)
4.6oz sugar
4.9oz almond powder
3.9oz icing sugar
2tsp espresso powder
All that being said, one of the biggest culprits that prevents meringue from whipping is grease. Make sure your mixer and whisk are completely grease free and that there is no trace of egg yolk with your whites. Add in the sugar slowly as well while whipping.
I hope this helps!
zeynep says
How many minutes are you flapping egg yolks
Denise says
If your meringue won’t peak, it has nothing to do with the weights. You likely had some fat introduced (either a bit of egg yolk, or the bowl/beaters had some residual fat/oil/butter on them). If there is even a spec of fat in your whites, they won’t make meringue, no matter how long you beat them.
Phoebe says
You should invest in a kitchen scale. My kitchen scale measures in grams and ounces and I measure everything in grams and it always turns out great. Also I have found the Italian method is a lot more stable. But that method requires a candy thermometer.
Kenn says
Jaimee…scales are very inexpensive…12 to 15 dollars for a decent one…it will help to save your macarons…your mind and money…definitely worth the investment