Espresso Macarons

My niece Maya holding the essential ingredient — espresso powder.

These espresso macarons are my nephew Sam's favorite.

He requested them for his birthday this year but politely told me afterwards, "They were great but I think you could add even more coffee flavor."

I appreciate his honesty and tweaked the recipe adding a tablespoon of espresso powder to the macaron cookie. I also added an additional teaspoon of espresso powder to the filling.

Sam, these macarons are just for you. I hope you like them.

Espresso Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon espresso powder.

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and espresso powder and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands or twist ties to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Espresso Filling. Store the macarons in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

Baked espresso macarons ready to be filled.

Espresso Filling
1 package cream cheese (8 oz.), room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch fine sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/3 cup powdered sugar


Dissolve the espresso powder in the vanilla extract and set aside.

Whip the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and whip again.


Add the sea salt and the vanilla coffee mixture. Whip until thoroughly combined.

Fill a pastry bag with the filling.

You may need to chill the filling so that it firms up a bit before piping into the macarons.

After putting the filling in a pastry bag, you might need to chill it so that it firms up a bit before filling the macarons.