Chocolate macaron shells with a nutella buttercream filling - what could be better! These chocolate and hazelnut macarons are made using the Swiss meringue method. They're then dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with crushed hazelnuts.
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Tell me about these macarons!
- Flavor: these chocolate macaron shells are filled with a Nutella buttercream filling. Half of the shells are dipped in melted chocolate and then topped with crushed hazelnuts!
- Texture: The crunchy macarons is such a good match with the extra creamy Nutella frosting. Plus, adding the crushed hazelnuts on top gives some extra pizazz!
- Ease: Macarons are not the easiest cookie, but as long as you follow the instructions (and use a scale!) you'll be good to go. The Swiss meringue method only takes a few extra minutes but makes all the difference.
- Time: It takes about 25 minutes to prep this recipe, but you'll need to wait for the chocolate topping to dry before you can sandwich the cookies.
- Would I make these again? 100%! These are such a fun and fancy recipe.
Making macarons the Swiss meringue method
The Swiss meringue method will give you a stable meringue to work with. This means less problems!
Make sure you sift your powdered sugar, cocoa powder and almond flour twice. The reason for doing this is a lot of almond flours aren't fine enough. With your egg whites, make sure you don't have any egg yolks - egg yolks means no meringue!
Place a bowl over a double boiler (a small saucepan with about an inch of simmering water), making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl and start whisking. This part will only take a few minutes, you'll know it's ready when you lift up your whisk, touch the mixture, and don't feel any sugar granules.
Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and start whisking. It'll start off foamy, then increase the speed to medium-high. Whisk until it becomes glossy and you have a stiff peak that bends slightly at the tip. It's better to stop and check versus over mixing.
Add in your dry mixture and start folding. You want to fold and mix the batter until it flows like lava from your rubber spatula - this step is called macaronage. It'll be ready when you lift your spatula up and you're able to draw a figure-8 without the batter breaking.
Pipe your batter on to parchment paper or silicone mats. I've tried both parchment paper and silicone mats and haven't found much of a difference! Tap your baking pans twice on your counter, this will get rid of the majority of air bubbles. If you leave those air bubbles, your macaron shells will break and crack.
Leave your macarons for about 20-30 minutes. You'll know they're ready when they have developed a skin. Bake the trays one at a time, if you bake more than once I've noticed they don't bake as evenly.
Nutella Buttercream
The filling and decorating of these macarons is super simple! Before you get started, make sure you sift your powdered sugar. This will make your buttercream much smoother with no lumps.
Make a Nutella buttercream by beating the butter until smooth. Add in your nutella and salt until well combined. While the mixer is running on a low speed, slowly pour in the powdered sugar. Finally, add in the heavy cream. Depending on the consistency of the buttercream, you may want to add more heavy cream.
Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave or in a double boiler. Dip half of the macaron shells into the chocolate. Place on parchment paper to dry, then sprinkle over crushed hazelnuts. I found waiting 30 seconds before sprinkling over the nuts led to more uniform shells versus sprinkling it on right away - the nuts started to move down the shells if you sprinkled them on immediately after being dipped.
Place the baking tray in your fridge to set completely, then you can pipe buttercream on the other shells. Sandwich together!
Frequently Asked Questions
It is always better to under mix rather than over mix, as once you over mix there isn't anything you can do to correct. When I'm in the macaronage stage, I know my batter is ready to use once the batter flows like lava and I can make a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking.
This is either because you over mixed the meringue batter, over mixed during the macaronage stage, or your oven temperature was too high - but I guarantee they'll still be delicious!
I use a Silpat mat, which means I don't go through as much parchment paper with all my baking. You can buy Silpat mats that have the macaron circles traced on them. Some people say that baking macarons on parchment paper can lead to wrinkles on the underside of the macaron, but I haven't found that.
Place your hazelnuts in a clean dish towel and wrap it up. Take a rolling pin and hit the hazelnuts until they're all crushed!
Yes! Macarons are very delicate and you need to use a scale to make macarons.
Love macarons? Try these!
Make sure to tag me on Instagram @alpineella and leave a review below if you've made these macarons! If you want more baking ideas, you can follow me on Pinterest.
Recipe
Nutella Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 100 grams egg whites room temperature
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 100 grams almond flour
- 91 grams powdered sugar
- 14 grams cocoa powder
Nutella Buttercream
- 56 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 160 grams Nutella
- 126 grams powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
Decoration
- 113 grams dark chocolate melted
- crushed hazelnuts
Instructions
Macaron Shells
- Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Sift together your powdered sugar, cocoa powder and almond flour, twice. Set aside.
- Whisk together the egg whites and granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl over a double boiler. Whisk for about 2 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. You can tell it is ready when you pull the whisk up and touch the mixture with your fingers, you shouldn't feel any granules. Do not let the bowl touch the water or it will cook the eggs
- Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Whisk on low speed for 30 seconds, it should begin to foam. Increase the speed to medium for 2 minutes, until it becomes white and fluffy.
- Increase the speed to medium-high, it should turn glossy and when you stop the mixer and pull the whisk out, you should have a stiff peak at the end of the whisk which only slightly bends at the end. This is how you know it is ready.
- Pour in the powdered sugar/almond mixture
- Gently fold them all together. Continue to fold and press the batter against the sides of the bowl. It is ready when it flows like lava from the rubber spatula, and you can make a figure 8 in the air without the batter breaking
- Carefully transfer the batter into a piping bag with a medium circular tip.
- Pipe out 70 macaron shells, piping at a 90 degree angle. Once they have all been piped out, bang each tray twice on your counter. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles
- Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes until they form a skin.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F/162°C. Bake them one tray at a time for 15-17 minutes. Let them cool completely.
Decoration
- Melt your dark chocolate and dip half of the shells into the chocolate. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over them.
- Place the macarons in the fridge for 5 minutes so the chocolate will set and dry
Buttercream
- Sift your powdered sugar and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the butter until smooth - about 2-3 minutes
- Add in the Nutella and salt and whisk together.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly pour in the powdered sugar. Then add in the heavy cream. You may need to add more heavy cream depending on the consistency you want.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat together for 1 minute.
- Pour into a piping mag with a medium tip and pipe half of the macaron shells.
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Notes
- You will need to use a scale to make this recipe, it will make all the difference!
- Crush the hazelnuts by placing them in a dish cloth and hitting them with a rolling pin.
- Store the macarons in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 3 days.
Cynthia says
These look incredible. It's been years since I last baked macaroons but these might just convinced me otherwise.