Nutella Macarons
Classic macarons get a delicious twist in this recipe for Nutella Macarons! The classic macaron shell is infused with a little bit of Dutch processed cocoa powder, giving it that slightly chocolatey flavor that pairs beautifully with the typically almond flavored macarons! The beautiful little baked up chocolate macarons shells are filled with an easy to make Nutella buttercream! This Nutella buttercream is sweet, nutty, chocolatey, and let me tell you, soooo delicious (you’ll have to resist eating it right off the beater)! The Nutella Macarons can be further decorated with a light drizzling of chocolate and crushed up hazelnuts!
NEW TO MACARONS? DO NOT DESPAIR!
If you have never made macarons before, and you want to master how to make Nutella macarons, or any macarons, don’t worry because I have a thorough guide on how to become an master macaron maker! The how to make macarons guide is full of tips and tricks, and step-by-step process on how to make perfect macarons! The link to that is here. If you have any questions of concerns feel free to comment below!
Nutella Macaron Filling
As mentioned above, the filling for these Nutella Macarons is a creamy, delicious Nutella buttercream! The recipe for the Nutella buttercream filling is simple and easy to make, as well!
1.Beat butter: Add the butter to a large bowl or stand mixer, then beat until soft and creamy looking.
2. Add sugar and cocoa: Add the confectioners sugar and cocoa powder, then beat again until the sugar and butter are well-combined together and creamy looking.
3. Add Nutella and cream: Add the Nutella and heavy cream to the icing and beat once again until the icing looks smooth, creamy, and uniform!
How to Decorate the Nutella Macarons
To fill these macarons with the Nutella buttercream, I used a medium round piping tip. I also decorated ½ of the baked macaron shells (i.e. the ones that would end up being the ‘tops’) with some drizzled melted chocolate and crushed hazelnuts. I simply added the hot, melted chocolate into a small piping bag, then clipped a very tiny amount off the bottom, just creating a small hole for the chocolate to drizzle out of. Next, I simply drizzled across the tops, then added the crushed hazelnuts before the chocolate hardened!
DUTCH-PROCESSED COCOA
This recipe uses Dutch-processed cocoa, as I find it is far superior to regular cocoa powder in flavor and in color. Dutch-processed cocoa is created by alkalizing cocoa powder, leading to a richer deeper color and a flavor that is less astringent. The less astringent taste allows that flavor of the chocolate to come through more, therefore it tastes, well, more chocolatey!
If you do not want to spring for Dutch-processed cocoa powder, regular cocoa powder can be used in this recipe as well, however I strongly recommend trying Dutch-processed out! A link to my favorite brand of Dutch-processed cocoa powder can be found here.
Get the Recipe: Nutella Macarons
Ingredients
Nutella Macarons
- 200 g Almond Flour
- 200 g Confectioners Sugar
- 20 g Dutch Press Cocoa
- 150 g Egg Whites,, divided
- 190 g White Sugar
- 60 mL Water
Chocolate Nutella Buttercream
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter,, at room temperature
- 1 cup Confectioners Sugar
- 1/4 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder,, sifted
- 2/3 cup Nutella
- 1 tbsp Heavy Cream
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Instructions
Dry Ingredients
- Place almond flour, confectioners sugar, and cocoa into food processor, pulse about 20 times. Sift into a large bowl, discarding any large pieces. Do not push large pieces through sifter. Then add 75g of egg whites into the bowl. Thoroughly mix together to form a paste. Feel free to be aggressive with your mixing. When combined, cover and set aside.
Making the Meringue
- Add remaining 75g of egg whites into a stand mixer, and set aside. Meanwhile, add white sugar and water into a small pot, and turn on medium-high. Once mixture heats to 110°C (230°F) turn on stand mixer to high and beat egg whites.
- When sugar mixture reaches 118°C (244°F) and egg whites have reached stiff peaks (but not dry), slowly drizzle the sugar mixture into the beating egg whites, ensuring that the stream is slow and is drizzling down the side of the bowl first. Then continue to beat the meringue until it reaches the ‘bird beak’ stage. Add food coloring, if desired, at this point and quickly mix into meringue, without overmixing.
Macaronage
- Add a large dollop of meringue (about 1/3) into the almond mixture paste. Work meringue dollop into paste to loosen up the paste to make it easier to work with. Do not be afraid of being aggressive at this point, we do not need to worry about knocking the air out of this small amount.
- Add the rest of the meringue into the bowl, and fold it into the paste mixture to combine. Be gentle and careful not to overmix or over-deflate the meringue. The mixture is ready to be piped when it ribbons off your spatula. If it is coming off in large V shaped chunks it still needs to be folded further.
Piping and Drying the Macarons
- Add mixture into a piping bag with medium to large sized round tip. Pipe small circles of batter onto a cookie sheet fitted with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Ensure piping bag is held straight up and perpendicular to baking sheet. Using a stencil or a macaron mat makes this process much easier and fool proof, I try to make my macarons around 1½” in diameter.
- Tap the baking sheet multiple times against counter to remove any air bubble from the macarons. If some air bubbles still remain, use a tooth pick to gently poke them out.
- Preheat oven to 300°F, or 275°F for convection mode.
- While oven is preheating, allow the macarons to sit and form a skin. This skin will ensure the macarons bake up and not out, giving them those classic “feet”. This skin should form anywhere from 8 minutes to an hour. You know the macarons are ready to be baked when you can touch them lightly without having the batter stick to your finger. Keep checking them to see if they have formed a skin– overly dried macarons are just as much of a problem as under-dried macarons!
Baking
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Your bake time will depend on the size of your macarons. Check at 15 minutes, and if they are not ready then keep checking every minute. The macarons are ready when the tops are firm and do not move around their base at all.
- Allow the macarons to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the sheets/mats/parchment. When cooled, find “perfect pairs” of macaron halves and set aside to be filled with buttercream.
Chocolate Nutella Buttecream Filling
- Add butter to a large mixing bowl and beat until softened. Sift in the confectioners sugar and cocoa powder, then beat until smooth and well-combined.
- Add Nutella and cream and beat until smooth.
- Add buttercream into piping bag and pipe onto ½ of “perfect pairs”. The amount of icing should be a 1:2 ratio, 1-part buttercream and 2-parts (2 halves) macarons. The other way to get a perfect icing amount is to pipe the same dollop of icing as you did with the macaron batter. Add tops to bottoms, and place into refrigerator to “mature” for 1-2 days.
- Decorate with melted chocolate and crushed hazelnuts.
Hi! I am looking for a chocolate macaron filling that doesn’t melt as they will be served at an outdoor graduation party. Can you tell me how your Chocolate Nutella Buttercream holds up outside on a hot day?
Hi! I have not tested it outside on a hot day, so I can’t be sure. If you’re looking for a buttercream filling that can withstand warm weather, I recommend substituting the butter for vegetable shortening. Butter has a melting point of 95F, while vegetable shortening has a melting point of 115F.