Peppermint Chocolate Macarons
Do you have a favorite holiday flavor? Obviously chestnuts is one of mine. But I’ve also been craving peppermint these days and I just love it paired with chocolate. I’ve been thinking of a fun dessert with that combo and crispy and chewy macarons seemed like a great idea! I just love how versatile macarons are. I also like getting the practice of making them. 🙂
So let’s get to it!
The first order of business will be to make your chocolate ganache. This is going to be the filling for your macarons. Â Put the chocolate chips and butter in a bowl and heat the cream until it’s hot and starts to bubble.
Pour that over the chocolate and butter and stir until it’s smooth, and then stir in the vanilla. Now you’ll chill that in the fridge for about two hours or until it’s firmed up but still spreadable.
Onto the cookies! Preheat your oven and cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Now sift the almond meal and powdered sugar together in a bowl and set that aside. I know sifting seems like an unnecessary step sometimes but you really don’t want to skip it here. It’s going to help prevent clumps in your macarons.
Next whisk your egg whites and granulated sugar by hand in the bowl of a stand mixer just to combine them.
Then beat with the stand mixer on medium for two minutes, medium-high another two, and high for a final two minutes or until you have stiff peaks.
Stiff peak
Finally you’ll gently fold in the almond meal mixture for about forty folds or until it’s all combined but still fluffy.
Add a teaspoon of the crushed candy cane and fold a few more times to distribute it. Â I love the faint pink color it gives to the macarons.
It’s time to pipe! Put the batter in a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe one and a half inch circles on your covered cookie sheets. I actually use disposable piping bags because you don’t have to worry about getting them clean. Now bang each cookie sheet on the counter several times. This gets rid of any large air pockets.
Let them sit for ten minutes. This will form the skin that’s going to make for a crisp cookie! Â Now sprinkle each one with candy cane and pop them in the oven.
Bake the cookies in the oven for about twelve minutes or until they’re set and slightly golden. Let the cookies cool. Â As they do, you may hear some crackling and that’s ok. It’s just the macarons crisping up.
Now it’s time to assemble!  First I like to pair up my cookies so that ones that are equally sized and shaped are matched up. Maybe the pros can make them all perfect all the time, but we all know I’m not perfect. 😉 Spoon about a tablespoon of the cooled chocolate ganache in the center of a cookie and press another cookie on top.
You want to make sure the filling comes all the way to the edges once you’ve smooshed the cookies together. Â Now roll your filled macaron in the remaining candy cane dust, so it sticks to the ganache.
Yum! Â This recipe will make between twelve and sixteen sandwiches. Â These little beauties just scream holidays! Â The peppermint comes through but doesn’t take your breath away and the sweet cookie is offset with the dark chocolate. It’s a great combo!
What’s your favorite holiday flavor been this year?
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup almond meal
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 10 mini candy canes or 2 regular sized finely crushed
Instructions
- Put chocolate chips and butter in a bowl. Heat cream over medium until hot and starting to bubble. Â
- Pour over chocolate and butter and stir until smooth. Â Stir in vanilla. Chill in the fridge for about 2 hours or until firm but spreadable.Â
- Preheat oven to 325° and cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift the almond meal and powdered sugar together in a bowl.
- Whisk egg whites and granulated sugar by hand in the bowl of a stand mixer just to combine.
- Beat with the stand mixer on medium for 2 minutes, medium-high another 2, and high for a final 2 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in almond meal mixture for about 40 folds or until combined but still fluffy. Add 1 teaspoon of crushed candy cane and fold a few more times to distribute. Â
- Put the batter in a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe 1 1/2" circles on covered cookie sheets.
- Bang each cookie sheet on the counter several times.Â
- Let them sit for 10 minutes. Â Sprinkle each one with candy cane.
- Bake about 12 minutes or until set and slightly golden. Cool on cookie sheets. Â
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of chocolate ganache in the center of a cookie and press another cookie on top, making sure filling comes to the edges.
- Roll filled macaron in the remaining candy cane dust, so it sticks to the ganache.Â
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