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Chocolate Italian Macarons
Chocolate Italian Macarons

Chocolate Italian Macarons

July 17, 2017 Posted by Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More Recipes 21 Comments

Here’s a recipe adapted from my original Italian Macarons. They smell like brownies and taste delicious! This recipe can easily be cut in half or doubled! The video tutorial is below!

Please read my post on All Things Macarons before making these as there are many tips, tricks, and techniques. Also, it answers a lot of questions you may have. 

 

Chocolate Italian Macarons

Chocolate Italian Macarons

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Course Treats

Ingredients
  

  • 140 grams ground almonds
  • 120 grams powdered sugar
  • 20 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 100 grams egg whites divided in half (50/50)
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • 40 grams bottled water

Instructions
 

  • Prepare your baking sheets. I usually use silpat mats, however, I've found that parchment paper works best for this recipe.
  • Weigh your water and granulated sugar into a small sauce pot and place on stove with a candy thermometer attached but don't turn the heat on just yet. You also do not want to stir it. Just measure it into the pot and set it on the stove. At no point will you be stirring the sugar water mixture.
  • Weigh your almond flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and powdered sugar into a bowl and place into a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times, stir to mix it around, and then pulse 2 more times.
  • Weigh 50 grams of egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside.
  • Weigh the other 50 grams of egg whites into a separate large bowl. Add your almond flour, cocoa, and powdered sugar mixture.
  • Turn the burner with your sugar water pot on to medium heat. Again, no stirring. Everything will be fine. Just let it work it's magic.
  • With a rubber spatula, start folding the eggs into the sugar, cocoa, flour mixture. It will seem dry and like it's not going to mix, but eventually it will.
  • Once fully mixed, cover with plastic wrap so it won't dry out.
  • Your sugar water mixture should be simmering at this point. Once it reaches 100 degrees C, turn your stand mixer with the bowl of egg whites on to medium high.
  • This is where you have to multi-task. Watch your egg whites and your sugar water closely. You only want the egg whites to get foamy. Do not take them to soft peaks. Your sugar water is only going to get to 115 degrees C. If your egg whites are ready before your sugar, just turn the mixer down to low.
  • Once your sugar water reaches 115 degrees C, remove the candy thermometer and with the mixer on medium low, slowly pour the sugar water into the egg whites.
  • As soon as all of the sugar water is added, turn the mixer on high.
  • I don't have an approximate time on how long to mix. What works best for me is bowl temperature. Every minute (or less) I place my hand on the lower portion of the outside of the bowl. Once it's at room temperature, my egg whites are usually ready. Even here you don't want stiff peaks. When you take the whisk out of the bowl, the egg whites will form a bird beak. They won't be stiff. They will be glossy.
  • Remove the plastic wrap from your flour sugar mixture and place half of the egg whites into the bowl. Fold this until you don't see anymore white streaks (from the egg) or dark clumps (from the flour mixture).
  • Add the second half of egg whites to the bowl. Fold the mixture while also pressing it against the side of the bowl periodically. You want the consistency to be like lava. No, I've never actually seen lava, but this is the most accurate description. It will still be somewhat thick, but will also slightly flow off of the spatula. This batter works best when it's not as thinned out as most other recipes. It will fall from the spatula but should not be able to do a "figure 8" into the bowl. There is a video below to help!
  • Place a piping tip into a piping bag, twist the end with the tip (keeps the batter from oozing out), and place into a cup. Scoop or pour the batter into the piping bag.
  • Pipe 1- 1 1/2 inch circles onto your prepared baking sheets about an inch apart. After your baking sheet is full of shells, bang it down on the counter 2-3 times, spin the pan around, and bang it down 2-3 more times. If there are still air bubbles you can pop them with a toothpick.
  • Turn your oven on to 300 degrees F. Your shells will be drying while your oven preheats.
  • Depending on your climate and humidity, the drying time will vary. I let mine dry for roughly 30-40 minutes. I test them by lightly touching the side of a shell. If the batter doesn't stick to your finger, it's ready to be baked! They will still have a shine on them. I found that these macarons baked better when dried slightly longer than my original Italian macarons.
  • Place into the oven for 7 minutes, rotate the pans around and cook for another 7 minutes. If you touch the side of a shell and it doesn't wiggle, it's ready.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool completely before attempting to remove from the silpat or parchment paper. The shells should peel off of the parchment paper easily.
  • Match up your cookies by size and fill! I mostly fill mine with flavored buttercreams, but there is an endless list of possibilities when it comes to flavored fillings!
  • Enjoy your gorgeous creations!
    Chocolate Italian Macarons

Tip:

  • I mentioned using parchment paper for this particular recipe because my 1st pan was on silpat and in the video you can see that the feet didn't really develop all the way, so I removed them (before they were fully cooked). I already knew I wasn't happy with the way they were turning out so I didn't want to waste any more time. They also started to crack, which led me to drying the next pan longer. So, drying them longer and using paprchment paper led me to the gorgeous macarons you see here.

Notes

 
These are a few products that I personally recommend for this recipe.  Click on the pictures for a full description and online price!        
Tags: chocolatechocolate macaronsmacarons
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21 Comments

Leave your reply.
  • Stephanie
    · Reply

    January 16, 2021 at 8:59 PM

    I had the same issue as others did with the wrinkly tops. Something about the batter didn’t seem right. I only put 15 grams of cocoa. Today I tried making it again with only 10 grams of cocoa but it was still not quite right. Is it because I used Dutch processed cocoa powder? I had a similar issue when I put matcha powder in the shells. The tops were also wrinkly.

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      January 17, 2021 at 7:42 AM

      Hi Stephanie! Definitely don’t use the Dutch processed cocoa powder, as that is what’s causing the wrinkly shells. 🙂

  • Evelyn Ziegler
    · Reply

    October 13, 2020 at 8:49 PM

    Hi!

    First of all, your Italian macaron recipe is the most perfect I’ve ever tried. You are awesome! Keep up the good work. You are the saving grace of all macaron bakers out there.

    Secondly, I have a question about making red velvet macarons. Do I use your recipe here but maybe reduce the chocolate and add more powdered sugar to balance out the ratio? Maybe 130g powdered sugar and 10g cocoa powder?

    Thirdly, I realize I would have to add A LOT of red gel food coloring. Do I add it to the flour+sugar+egg whites mixture or do I simmer it with the syrup just to get rid of any liquids that might mess up the perfect chemistry of the macaron batter?

    I would appreciate any tips you can share with me.

    Thanks,
    Evelyn.

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      October 14, 2020 at 6:37 AM

      Hi Evelyn! Thank you so so much, I appreciate that! So for Red Velvet Macarons I actually use 140g almond flour, 10g cocoa powder, 130g powdered sugar, 100g egg whites (divided), 100g granulated sugar, 40g water, and 1 tsp LorAnn Red Velvet Emulsion (I add it to the egg white, almond flour, powdered sugar paste). I still follow my same technique and everything else. The Red Velvet Emulsion works amazingly because it gives a gorgeous red color and also some flavor that really tastes like Red Velvet cake! Thank you! 🙂

      • Evelyn Ziegler
        · Reply

        October 14, 2020 at 1:18 PM

        Hi Kyndall,

        Thank you for the prompt reply. 😊 Would it work if I used Amoretti Red Velvet Artisan Natural Flavors instead?

        • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
          · Reply

          Author
          October 16, 2020 at 8:12 AM

          Hi Evelyn! Yes ma’am, the Amoretti will work great! 🙂

  • Sheila
    · Reply

    August 18, 2020 at 1:05 PM

    Hi! Well, I didn’t mess up too badly. They are beautiful with nice feet and full shells. Thanks so much for the recipe! I baked the first pan with parchment over my slipat for the circle templates and they are good but I may have ever so slightly under baked them. They are. Fudgy and yummy tho. Second pan on just parchment did much better. Thanks again!

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      August 18, 2020 at 2:21 PM

      Hi Sheila! I’m happy to see that they turned out great for you! With the egg whites and making the meringue- make sure you’re adding the sugar syrup to the whites slowly and as steady as possible. That will help a lot with having any residue on the bottom of the bowl. I have a full tutorial with my original Italian macarons that will help show the whole process. Keep practicing and thank you so much for your feedback! Here’s a link to the video if you need it 🙂 (clickable link) –> Italian Macarons

  • Sheila
    · Reply

    August 18, 2020 at 11:32 AM

    Okay. This is my first attempt with the Italian method of making macarons. In retrospect, I should not have started with the chocolate but I did. I had sugar crystals on the side of my bowl while whipping the meringue and a thick, sticky residue in the bottom of my bowl. The macs are resting now and look really good, the test will be when the come out of the oven. My question is, is the residue in the bottom of the mixing bowl to be expected or did I leave most of the egg white in the bottom of the bowl? My whites weren’t quite foamy when I added the sugar. How badly did I mess up?

  • Lisa
    · Reply

    February 28, 2020 at 3:14 PM

    Hi Kyn, does it matter if you use dutched cocoa vs. natural cocoa since dutched has a neutral ph? Does one do better in the recipe than the other? Thank you.

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      February 29, 2020 at 6:52 AM

      Hi Lisa! Natural cocoa is actually much more successful in macarons in my experience.

  • Mac
    · Reply

    February 11, 2020 at 1:17 PM

    Fortunately I’ve had success with your regular Italian recipe, but with this chocolate recipe, I had the same issue that a previous poster here mentioned – mine wrinkled on top in the oven, and then they also split open on top as well. Funny enough, they weren’t hollow and still tasted really good! Haha, so we still ate them. I even took them to a party and nobody complained.

    I did use the unsweetened baking cocoa, but it wasn’t the Hershey’s brand, it was Kroger’s/Ralph’s brand, and I measured it out at 20 grams and reduced powdered sugar by as much as well. Do you think it should be the Hershey’s brand, or…? Or maybe reduce the amount I’m using down to something like 15 grams?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      February 12, 2020 at 7:29 AM

      Hi Mac! The chocolate macarons do need to rest longer and sometimes (depending on the time of year) even bake longer. I use Hershey’s as well so that’s not an issue. If it’s very humid or hot in your area you can reduce the amount of cocoa powder down and that seems to help (use 10 grams of cocoa powder and 130 grams of powdered sugar). I hope that helps 🙂

      • Brooke
        · Reply

        May 8, 2020 at 8:07 PM

        Hi my macs were also wrinkled on top. I only added 10 grams of organic cocoa powder and I let them set a lot longer and they still turned out that way? Maybe I over mixed?

        • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
          · Reply

          Author
          May 11, 2020 at 7:53 AM

          Hi Brooke! This can be caused by a few things. Was your cocoa powder dutched? If you only added 10 grams of cocoa powder then you needed to also adjust the powdered sugar to 130 grams instead of 120. The ratios have to be right across the board. It could have been because you over mixed, or your meringue could have been at the wrong stage. There are some great troubleshooting posts I’ve done that will help here (clickable link) –> Community Questions Good luck and don’t give up! 🙂

  • mira
    · Reply

    February 2, 2020 at 6:46 PM

    hello kyndall!

    is the batter for this one a bit thicker than the one from your original recipe? i see that the batter is still a bit thick when you put it into the piping bag.. is it because of the chocolate powder? i want to try it this weekend.. i really have to thank you for always responding to my comments and always give me useful tips for macarons.. i’m happy to know that i can always ask you since making macarons often give me a headache LOL but i won’t give up!

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      February 3, 2020 at 9:37 AM

      Hi Mira! The batter is slightly thicker, however even with my original recipe I don’t macaronage it to be thin either. I’m actually working on a video for the Chocolate Italian macarons this week so hopefully it will help as well 🙂 You got this!!

  • Amy
    · Reply

    November 6, 2019 at 1:38 PM

    Have you ever had your chocolate macarons wrinkle on the top? I only ever have this problem with chocolate flavored macarons. They are not hallow, and otherwise perfect just the skin on the top after coming out of the oven wrinkles….
    Also, if you use ground freeze dried fruit, would you use the same measurement as the chocolate in weight?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      November 7, 2019 at 6:00 AM

      Hi Amy! Yes, I’ve had them wrinkle when I first started making them. You’re either using too much, or not using the correct kind. Yes, I do sub out the cocoa powder for ground down freeze fruits in the same amount. Using the freeze dried fruits is my favorite way to have macarons lol! I also use the ground down freeze dried fruits in my buttercream to fill them with. I hope that helps! 🙂

  • Sarah
    · Reply

    December 5, 2018 at 9:06 PM

    I made this recipe after having tried macarons a few times with limited success. This is the first time I have been able to get perfect shells with no hollows! I’m going to try making this with peanut butter powder instead of cocoa and see what happens!

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      December 6, 2018 at 5:43 AM

      Hi Sarah! Yay! That’s so great and I’m excited to hear it! I’ve heard of a few other people successfully using the peanut butter powder, but I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. I have used ground down freeze dried fruits and that works amazingly and tastes wonderful! Stay creative and enjoy your delicious creations 🙂

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