Cookie Macarons

Macarons are one of my favorite desserts to make at home. Something about macarons is both decadent, delicate, and delicious all at the same time.

I'm showing you how to make one of my all-time favorite cookie dough macaron recipe.

It's made using an Italian-style meringue. Then, we're filling the macarons with a cookie dough buttercream filling and decorating the outside with lots of mini chocolate chips.

I promise this cookie dough macaron recipe is perfect for both beginners and macaron experts. If you have any trouble along the way, feel free to comment below and I'll do my best to help you out.

If you're new to baking macarons, here are qualities you'll want to look for when making your cookie macarons:

• Crispy (not too soft) top. You don't want the top to crack when you touch it.
• Small feet with a slight vertical rise. You don't want lopsided or ruffled feet that are spread out on the sides.
• Full, slightly chewy interior. You don't want a large hollow gap between the top and bottom although this is one of the hardest things to get correct and can take some practice!
• Equal-sized top & bottom shells. You don't want small and large shells paired together to make one full macaron.

Egg whites: Egg whites are the base of the meringue. As air is beaten into the egg whites, some of the egg proteins unfold. These unfolded proteins turn into a strong network of air bubbles. This ingredient provides a strong base to the macarons.

Cream of tartar: Adding an acid to the meringue helps to stabilize the egg whites. This leads to a firmer, more stable merginue.

Granulated sugar: The sugar helps to build up the structure of the egg whites. Since Italian meringue is made with sugar syrup, you'll need to mix the granulated sugar with some water. Then, this mixture is cooked until it reaches 244°F (118°C) on a digital thermometer.

Super fine almond flour: This ingredient is made from almonds that are ground into a fine powder. Almond flour adds a subtle but delicious flavor to macaron cookies. Make sure to sift the almond flour to remove any large clumps which could lead to bumpy shells.

Confectioners' sugar: This is another one of the dry ingredients you'll need for the cookie macarons. Confectioners' sugar is sifted together with the almond flour to create a smooth shell.

Gel food coloring: Liquid food coloring will not work. Be sure to use a gel or powdered food coloring. These types of food coloring won't add too much liquid to your macaron batter, yet they create bright and vibrant colored shells.

If you're interested in learning more about the science of macarons, check out this article about macaron ingredients.

Also included in the photo are ingredients for our cookie dough macaron buttercream filling. Be sure to check out the recipe card below for the full measurements.

How To Make This Recipe

Before you start baking the cookie dough macarons, there's some prep work you need to complete. This will help set you up for success:

• Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, then allow the egg whites to come to room temperature. Egg whites foam best at room temperature (around 70°F - 80°F).
• Measure all of the dry ingredients using a digital kitchen scale. Measuring by weight ensures your ingredients are accurately weighed.
• Sift the almond flour and confectioners' sugar together twice. Discard any large pieces of almond flour that may cause your shells to be bumpy.
• Wipe down the stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment with a little white vinegar on a paper towel to remove any leftover oils. Fats interfere with the aeration of the egg whites and can ruin your meringue.
• Print off a macaron template. This piping template will help you pipe perfectly round circles. Place them on a light-colored sheet pan underneath a piece of parchment paper.
• Prepare your piping bag with a ½ inch round tip. Push part of the side of the piping bag into the piping tip to ensure nothing leaks out. Set the bag inside a tall glass, and pull the remaining top of the piping bag out over the outside of the glass to make pouring the batter easy and clean.

2. Make Italian Meringue

The first step to making cookie macarons is learning how to make an Italian-style meringue. Add the room temperature eggs and cream of tartar to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.

Whip on medium-low speed (I use speed 4 on my KitchenAid mixer) until the eggs are very foamy, right before the soft peaks stage. This usually takes about 6 - 7 minutes.

While the eggs are whipping, it's time to start on the sugar syrup. This is the part that makes Italian meringue unique.

Add granulated sugar and water to a saucepan. Then, place the saucepan over medium-high heat. You can stir the mixture if you want to help dissolve the sugar.

Cook the sugar until it reaches 244°F (118°C) on a digital thermometer. If you notice the eggs reach soft peaks before the sugar syrup is ready, reduce the mixer speed to low.

Here's a visual photo of what the foamy egg whites should look like.

Next, turn the mixer up to medium high speed (I use speed 7 on my KitchenAid mixer), and slowly begin to pour the hot sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl.

Be sure the sugar runs down the bowl and doesn’t hit the whisk attachment, or it will splatter on the side of the mixer bowl. 

You'll want to do this step immediately after the syrup reaches 244°F. Don't let the syrup sit or it will begin to harden.

Continue to whip the Italian meringue for an additional 4 - 5 minutes after you've poured in all of the sugar syrup, until you achieve stiff peaks.

If you're new to baking macarons, I'd suggest setting a timer. This will keep you aware of how long the mixer has been whipping.

This is a very crucial step to get correct. Here are some visual cues to look for to ensure your meringue has whipped to stiff peaks:

• You'll notice the meringue starts to ball up inside the whisk while it's mixing.
• Pull the whisk out of the mixer. A stiff peak should stand straight up (no curl at the tip).
• You can see pointy off-shoots of egg whites on the whisk when you pull it out of the mixer.
• You can fully flip the bowl over and nothing moves or falls out.
• The meringue feels sturdy (not flimsy).
• The egg whites hold the indentation that the whisk makes as it's whipping.

Since Italian meringue is known for being more stable, it's easy to over whip the meringue at this stage. Over whipped meringue will be too thick and can cause ruined macarons.

Grab a heavy-duty silicone spatula, and fold the sifted almond flour & confectioners' sugar into the meringue.

Continue until all the meringue is fully incorporated and no dry bits of almond flour remain on the bottom of the bowl.

Add 5-6 drops of brown gel food coloring to the batter. It's important to use gel food coloring or powdered food coloring. Liquid food coloring adds too much water to the batter, and it could result in cracked shells or flat macarons.

Next, it's time to macaronage the batter. This is another important step to correctly perform.

Macaronage is a term that refers to folding the dry macaron ingredients (almond flour and confectioners' sugar) into the meringue. This process smooths the mixture and helps the macarons bake with proper structure.

To properly macaronage, you will continue folding the batter until it reaches a lava-like consistency. You can test this by lifting your spatula and seeing if the batter drops almost like lava. Once it drops off the spatula, the batter that was dripped should fade back into the batter within 10 - 15 seconds (not immediately).

Additionally, the almond flour should look blended into the meringue (not lumpy).

Many home bakers who are new to baking macarons will over macaronage the batter. If you're unsure if your batter has been properly macaronaged, it's better to under macaronage a bit since the batter will still be worked in the piping bag.

If you've over whipped the Italian meringue, you'll notice that the batter will never thin out enough during the macaronage stage. Unfortunately, if this happens to you, you'll need to start over.

Pour the batter into the prepared piping bag. Hold the bag vertically, and gently pipe 1.5 inch circles. If you're using my free macaron piping template, 1.5 inches is the middle circle.

Once you have reached the desired size, release the pressure on the bag and twist your wrist without lifting up.

Here are some tips for improving your piping technique:

• Try not to move the piping bag to ensure you pipe an even circle.
• The macarons will spread slightly once they're piped, so pipe them .25" smaller than you want them to be after they have been baked.
• Flick your wrist after you've piped the desired size to cleanly finish off each macaron.

Tap the sheet pan down the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. You can tap the pan fairly aggressively, so don't be scared! Failure to do this could result in cracked macarons.

You can pop any air bubbles that rise to the top with a toothpick.

Before baking the macarons, allow the batter to sit on the counter and dry for 45 - 60+ minutes until a thin "skin" develops, and you can touch the tops without ruining the macaron. This may take up to 90+ minutes if you live in a humid climate or it's a rainy day.

If you're having trouble with this, check out my tips for how to fix macarons that aren't drying.

Here's an example of my dried macaron shells. The shells should look more matte than when you first piped them. Plus, when you gently and lightly push down on the macaron shell, you can feel some resistance and no mark is left.

While the macarons are drying, heat your oven to 300°F (150°C). If this is your first time making macarons, you might want to experiment with the oven temperature to find out the best temperature range for your home oven.

Once the macarons are done drying, bake one sheet at a time on the center rack of the oven for 19 - 23 minutes. Check that the macarons have fully baked using the following tests:

• The feet and the edge of the macarons feel firm when you gently touch them.
• It feels like you could forcibly lift the macaron shell off the parchment paper if you needed to (don't actually do this, just use it as a test).
• If you touch the shell and it wiggles, is still sticky, or is wet, you know the macarons need longer to bake.

First, spread the all-purpose flour onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Since we're not baking the flour, it's important to first heat treat it to kill off any potential harmful bacteria.

Place the flour into a preheated 350°F (175°C) oven for 5 - 7 minutes until it reaches 160°F (72°C) on a digital thermometer.

Once you've removed it from the oven, set the flour aside, and allow it to fully cool before moving onto the next step.

Add the softened butter along with brown sugar to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat the butter on medium-high speed until it's light and fluffy. This usually takes about 2 - 3 minutes.

Don't cut this time short! This step helps to create a beautiful texture in the cookie dough buttercream.

Next, begin adding in the sifted flour and confectioners' sugar mixture ½ cup at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Allow the ingredients to fully incorporate before adding in an additional ½ cup.

Repeat this process until none of the flour and confectioners' sugar mixture remains. You can scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure all the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Now, you'll need to deflate the buttercream using a silicone spatula.This helps the cookie dough buttercream to pipe smoothly.

Press the buttercream around the side of the mixer bowl until the frosting has smoothed and many of the air bubbles have been pushed out.

Place the matching macaron on top, then roll the outside of the macaron in mini chocolate chips. This is one of my favorite ways to decorate macarons.

Mature the macarons with the filling in the refrigerator overnight. This will allow the macarons to slightly soften and develop a deeper flavor.

The macarons will last up to 7 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or up to 1 month in the freezer. You can read more about my tips and tricks for macaron storage.

There are a few crucial steps you must get correct in order to achieve perfect chocolate chip cookie macarons:

First, you must perfectly whip your meringue. Both overwhipped and under whipped meringue can cause many problems such as cracked macarons, ruffled feet, or soft shells.

Here are some visual cues you can use to know that your meringue has whipped to stiff peaks:

• You'll notice the meringue starts to ball up inside the whisk while it's mixing.
• Pull the whisk out of the mixer. A stiff peak should stand straight up (no curl at the tip).
•  You can fully flip the bowl over and nothing moves or falls out.
• The meringue feels sturdy (not flimsy).

If you're a visual learner, here's a photo guide that shows the various stages of meringue:

Once the batter drops back into the bowl, it should take about 10 - 15 seconds for the ribbon that formed to "disappear" back into the rest of the batter.

Over macaronaged batter is very thin and runny. When you pour it off the spatula it almost immediately disappears back into the macaron batter.

When in doubt, it's better to under macaronage. A batter that's too runny will not produce the macarons you're looking for.