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Coffee Macarons

These Coffee Macarons are filled with an espresso buttercream and are the perfect after dinner treat! If you love a rich coffee flavor, these are the macarons for you. Learn to make these delicious and beautiful coffee art macarons which are easier than they look!
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Resting time20 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Keyword: coffee macarons, macarons
Servings: 18 macarons
Calories: 130kcal
Author: The Tipsy Macaron

Equipment

  • Kitchen scale
  • Sifter
  • Whisk
  • Stand mixer
  • Two spatulas
  • Small bowl (for separating the batter)
  • One 12 inch pastry bag
  • Two 8 inch pastry bags
  • Round piping tip (Wilton 12)
  • Two silicone baking mats
  • Two half sheet pans
  • Oven thermometer
  • Scribe (or toothpick)

Ingredients

Macaron shells

  • 90 grams powdered sugar
  • 80 grams almond flour
  • 70 grams egg whites
  • 70 grams granulated sugar
  • 2 grams egg white powder (optional)
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 drops brown gel food coloring

Espresso buttercream

  • ¼ cup salted butter (½ stick)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp cream
  • ½ tsp espresso powder

Instructions

Prepare dry ingredients

  • Sift powdered sugar and almond flour using a whisk to break down any clumps. Set aside.
  • Line sheet pans with silicone mats.
  • Insert the piping tip into the 12 inch pastry bag for the brown batter. The 8 inch pastry bag you will use for the white batter does not need a piping tip.

Make the meringue

  • Whisk the egg whites on medium speed (speed 4) until you start to see small bubbles and the egg whites start looking opaque (this can take as little as 15 seconds sometimes).
  • Slowly add 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time.
  • Whisk until you start to see tracks in the meringue.
  • Increase speed to 6 and continue slowly adding the remainder of the granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you’ve added all the sugar.
  • Once you have soft peaks, stop the mixer, scrape the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla.
  • Whisk for another 5 minutes or until stiff peaks.

Combine ingredients

  • Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the meringue and fold the batter until you can't see any of the dry ingredients.
  • When folding the batter, slide the spatula under the batter, lift it in a U motion, go over the top of the batter, and slide it under again. This way you make sure to get the batter at the bottom of the bowl.
  • Once fully combined, add in another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and repeat the process of folding.
  • Add in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients and fold until fully combined.
  • Once all of the powdered sugar/almond flour mixture has been added, fold just until all the ingredients are combined and then stop mixing.
  • Transfer 1 tbsp of the batter to a small bowl and set aside. This will be the batter you will pipe into the shell which will make the little hearts for the coffee art.
  • Take the batter in the mixing bowl and add 2 drops of brown gel food coloring and continue folding just until the color is fully mixed in.
  • Now you need to deflate some of the air in the batter by taking the spatula and smearing the batter on the sides of the bowl two or three times, and then folding once or twice.
  • Continue this process of smearing some of the batter on the side of the bowl and folding once or twice until the batter starts to run off the spatula in ribbons.
  • You can test the consistency by lifting the spatula and letting the batter run down. If it falls in ribbons and sinks into itself within 30 seconds, it's ready.
  • Transfer the brown batter to the 12 inch pasty bag with the piping tip and set aside. Don't cut the opening at the tip yet.
  • Now take the white batter in the small bowl and repeat the process above of folding and deflating, being very careful not to over mix the batter.
  • Once the batter is ready, transfer to an 8 inch pastry bag.
  • Cut a ½ inch opening at the tip of the bag with the brown batter and cut a ¼ inch opening at the tip of the bag with the white batter.

Pipe the shells

  • Holding the pastry bag with the brown batter at a 90° angle, pipe the macarons into ¾ inch circles about 1 inch apart. Pipe just three shells at a time, and then using the pastry bag with the white batter, place small dots on the outside of the shell in a circle, and one dot in the center. (You want to pipe just a few shells at a time, because the batter will start to dry and the white dots will not be so easy to pipe)
  • After you've piped the white dots, take the scribe (or toothpick) and run the tip down the center of each dot in a circle around the outer edge of the macaron shell. Place the tip of the scribe on top of the middle dot, and make a straight line. It will look like a little heart.
  • Tap the tray against the counter about 8 times to release any air bubbles.
  • Let the macarons rest until they form a skin and are no longer sticky.
  • While the macarons are resting, preheat the oven to 310°F.
  • Bake the macarons for 14-16 minutes.
  • Macarons are ready when they no longer shift if you touch the tops.

Espresso buttercream

  • Using the stand mixer, whisk the butter until creamy.
  • Add half of the powdered sugar and whisk on slow until fully mixed in. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and continue mixing on slow until the sugar is fully mixed in and increase speed to medium.
  • Add the espresso powder to the heavy cream so it dissolves a bit and then add to the buttercream and continue to mix until creamy and smooth.

Assemble the macarons

  • Fill an 8 inch pastry bag with the buttercream and cut a ½ inch opening at the tip of the bag.
  • Pipe the buttercream on half of the macaron shells and top with the other half.
  • Refrigerate the filled macarons for at least 24 hours before eating.
  • When ready to eat, remove from the refrigerator and allow macarons to come to room temperature at least 20-30 minutes before eating.

Notes

*Calories reflected are for macaron shells only
*All ovens are different so temperature and baking time should only be used as a guide
Mixing bowl should be clean and grease free
Weigh all ingredients in grams for accuracy
Use room temperature egg whites (to bring eggs to room temperature quickly, put them in a bowl filled with hot water for about 5 minutes)
Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together because almond flour is moist and doesn't sift well alone
Mix the egg white powder and the granulated sugar before adding to the egg whites to fully dissolve the egg white powder
Whisk the meringue until you have stiff peaks
Let macarons dry before baking so they don't crack

Nutrition

Serving: 1 macaron | Calories: 130kcal