Chocolate Macarons recipe that is easy to make and is great to give as edible gifts around the holiday season.
Baking French Macarons has been on my list for this holiday season, but I wasn't sure which theme they would fit in. Then I figured it fits perfectly into 'Street food' and 'Edible Gifts' themes. To clarify this recipe is for both blogging marathon and bake-a-thon. Two birds in one shot 🙂 So I have an easy to make Chocolate Macarons recipe for you today.
French macarons are sold as street food in France. How lucky are those folks who live in France. Boxes of macarons are sold in the stores here, but they are super expensive. I wish I lived in France to eat these chewy and delicious treats almost every day.
I was always under the impression that baking macarons is a very tedious process and all the steps need to be followed to the T. Which was the reason why I didn't bake them all these years after my first attempt. But then I wanted to give them a try again this holiday season and found these Chocolate Macarons recipe on David Lebowitz's site. DL is a master baker and I know that his recipe would definitely work out.
It wasn't a surprise that the recipe turned out just perfect. I didn't have to jump through all the hoops that I jumped when I previously made macarons. There was no need to age the egg whites. Also I just beat them till the whites were really stiff and firm, about 8~ 10 minutes on the stand mixer. Just have faith and make these macarons -- they will turn out absolutely perfect.
Chocolate macarons sandwiched with creamy chocolate ganache make for a rich and decadent treat for any time of the year. But these are just perfect as edible gifts during holidays.
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 83.
This is part of the Bake-a-thon 2017. 
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Chocolate Macarons Recipe
Ingredients
For the Macaroon Batter:
- 1 cup Almond Meal (Ground Almonds)
- 2 cups Confectioners Sugar
- 6 tbsp Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
- 4 Egg Whites from Large Eggs, at room temperaure
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
For the Filling:
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Light Corn Syrup
- 2 oz. Bittersweet or Semi sweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 tsp unsalted butter
Instructions
Make Macarons:
- Line 2~3 baking sheets with parchment paper. If you want even sized macarons, then look up for free macaron templates and draw them out on the parchment paper. Flip and place on the baking sheet. Keep a piping bag set with a ½" round tip ready. Place it in a tall glass for easy filling.
- Process almond meal, confectioners sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor until combined. Sieve the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any small lumps.
- Beat the egg whites along with a pinch of salt until frothy. Slowly add the granulated sugar in a single stream and beat the eggs until stiff, firm and glossy. It took about 8~10 minutes for me on my Kitchenaid on speed 6.
- Add the dry ingredients and using a strong rubber spatula, fold and mix until everything is well mixed in. This will take some elbow grease, so keep at it. Once everything's mixed in, the batter should fall upon itself.
- Fill the piping bag with the batter and pipe them on the baking sheet. I made 1" circles about 1" apart. Once all the macarons on the baking sheet are done, tap the baking sheet on the counter 1~2 times to remove any trapped air bubbles. Now let the macarons dry out for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the macarons for 13~15 minutes or until the tops are dried and little feet formed. Remove from the oven and let cool before removing the macarons from the parchment. Let cool on the cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining baking sheets.
Make the chocolate ganache:
- Heat heavy cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan on medium flame. Cook till bubbles start forming around the edges. Take off heat and add to chopped chocolate. Set aside for 1 minute, then stir until smooth and glossy. Add the butter and stir until melted in. Set aside to cool.
Make the Sandwiches:
- Either pipe or spoon tiny bit of ganache onto the bottom one macaron and sandwich it with another. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Let the macarons sit for at least 24 hours before enjoying.
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth
You do make it sound easy! Especially since they are all in cup measurements... I have only one question - the egg whites were taken from large eggs? I have to try this to break my macaron drought... 😉 Just like you mentioned, macarons are super expensive in this part too... you feel like you are eating gold! Hehe...
cookshideout
Rafeeda, you are right. Cup measure makes me feel so much more doable than weight measures. I used whites from Large eggs. I updated the recipe accordingly. Thank you for pointing that out.
Srivalli Jetti
Oh, those macarons look divine, though I know I won't eat them..:)..and what a wonderful model Pavani...It's nice that you finally found a recipe that works perfectly fine. I remember those days when food bloggers used to have so much drama about their macarons not getting its feet! So nice to see it can be done without much fuss as well! Maybe I will try for my kids..
cookshideout
Thank you Valli. Do try these for your kids. I am sure they will like them.
Vaishali
Can’t ever dream of making macaroons ! Have given a couple of trials to the eggless version but gave up ! I think the egg version might be easier ...well at least they sound so ! They look beautiful and love the way you have presented them . Fantastic !
Usha
The thought of baking macarons always intimidates me. Will have to try this recipe since you say it is very easy. Though these are homemade, a macaron gift sounds so fancy! Wish you baked these when you were in NJ . We would have self invited ourselves for a BM meet.. 🙂
Priya Suresh
I dream to live in USA and you want to live in France, shall we do an exchange Pavani.. lol.. You nailed them prefectly and those macarons looks fabulous and prefect to pack as edible gifts.
Preeti
Looks amazing and so sinful...
Harini
Wonderful presentation. These look sinful and festive too.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
When I made macarons the first time, I remember that I frozen solid with fear. I was so sure that it will not work, but the recipe worked great. I love the chocolate macarons and this is so perfect as an edible gifts. I am sure everyone who received them would be super happy.
Chef Mireille
I tried to make them once and they were a big flop. I personally dont like them that much and dont see what all the hoopla is about so I hardly thought it worth the effort to keep on trying. Yours look perfect though.
Priya Srinivasan
Wow pavani! Superb! Love those macarons, happy u got a recipe that works like magic!
These chocolate flavor must be a great hit with kids! Looks perfect!
Sapana
Omg those macrons look so tempting. A perfect edible gift to give to friend's and family.
Erica
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your blog? My website is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would certainly benefit from some of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Appreciate it!|
cookshideout
Hi Erica, sure. That will be great. Can you share your website link? Thank you