Is there a better combo than chocolate and peanut butter?? We love just about everything that is made with these ingredients. Who doesn’t, right??? So, we felt it was time to create Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Macarons recipe with you!
These French Macarons are filled with a luscious chocolate pastry cream in the center, surrounded by the best peanut butter frosting you will ever eat! All this goodness sandwiched between two chocolate macaron shells. Sounds amazing right??
In this post we do not go into detail on the macaron making process or tips for success. If you are looking for more detail check out our post for Snickerdoodle Macarons for some tips from our experience.
If you are a first time mac-maker and need some additional support, I highly recommend checking out THIS page.
Making Chocolate Macaron Shells
Making the macaron shell can be a frustrating process if you don’t carefully consider what is going in them to adjust the ratios perfectly. Macarons aren’t as forgiving as other types of cookies.
The recipe here utilizes the French method for the chocolate shells, but if you prefer the Italian or Swiss method, go ahead and do that.
It’s especially important with chocolate shells to account for the addition of the cocoa powder and weigh the difference or you may have some. wonky macarons.
For these shells, I used 15 g dutch processed cocoa powder, and I add it to the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar in the food processor in the beginning. For chocolate shells, I reduce the amount of confectioner’s sugar to account for the added cocoa powder.
As you will notice, the chocolate shells are quite light, so you can add a small amount of brown food gel coloring if you want them to be darker. Because I drizzled chocolate on top of the shells, I didn’t feel the need to make this batch darker.
Check out the following video to see the process of making these macarons from start to finish!
All about that Filling!
Dark Chocolate Pastry Cream
The pastry cream is something you will want to make several hours before making the shells, or the day before if possible.
The pastry cream takes at least 2 hours to set up, but is best if allowed to sit in the fridge overnight.
This dark chocolate pastry cream is quite easy to make and can be used for a variety of desserts, but we love it in these macarons to compliment the peanut butter.
Instant espresso powder is used in this pastry cream to give it an extra chocolatey taste. It does not actually taste like espresso. You can omit this ingredient if you feel so inclined, although I’m here to tell you that you are missing out if you do! But you do you!
A quick note about using pastry cream as a macaron filling:
Macarons filled with pastry cream will get soggy after about two days, so these need to be eaten pretty quickly. If you want your macarons to last a bit longer, I recommend using a ganache or buttercream filling instead. Although, the pastry cream is absolutely delicious in macarons!
Whipped Peanut Butter
Let me just start out by saying that this is literally a dream frosting that you may end up eating by the spoonful. It is so so tasty! It’s very easy to make and only requires smooth peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract, and butter.
To make the whipped peanut butter, I prefer to use a hand mixer. Simply add all ingredients to a bowl and whip until combined, then begin adding your butter, one tablespoon at a time. Your peanut butter mixture will begin to look smooth and fluffy and light enough to pipe into the macarons.
I transfer the whipped peanut butter into a piping bag and set aside until the macarons shells have cooled completely before piping.
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Macarons. If you give it a try, leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine.
Check out some of our other popular recipes below:
- Snickerdoodle Macarons with Cinnamon Sugar Pastry Cream
- Strawberry and Bubbly Macarons
- Cappuccino Macarons with White Chocolate Espresso Ganache
- Peppermint Bark Macarons
- White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Macarons
Course: DessertCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium-Hard10
servings1
hour30
minutes15
minutes1
hour45
minutesThese French Macarons are filled with a luscious chocolate pastry cream in the center, surrounded by the best peanut butter frosting you will ever eat!
Ingredients
- Chocolate Pastry Cream
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp dutch processed cocoa powder
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp instant espresso
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
- Shells
112 g almond flour (approx 1 cup)
210 g confectioners sugar (approx 2 cups)
15 g dutch processed cocoa powder
105 g egg whites (approx 3 large eggs)
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50 g granulated sugar (approx ¼ cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp chocolate extract
- Whipped Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
Directions
- MAKE THE CHOCOLATE PASTRY CREAM
- Add cream to a saucepan over low heat. You want to heat the cream but not boil it.
- In a medium bowl, add cocoa powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt, and instant espresso. Stir to combine.
- Add egg yolks to cocoa mixture and stir.
- Slowly add about ¼ of the cream to the mixture and stir to combine. Repeat this until all the cream is incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
- Return contents to saucepan and increase heat to medium. Stir constantly to prevent any burning on the bottom of the saucepan. The mixture should thicken within 5 minutes to a pudding consistency.
- Once a pudding consistency is reached, add vanilla and stir to combine.
- Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap ensure that the wrap is touching the top of the pastry cream. If it is exposed to air it will form a skin, which is not what you want here. Place in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours and up to 24 hours before piping.
- SHELLS
- Combine almond flour, confectioners sugar, and cocoa powder in a food processor. Pulse several times until thoroughly combined and mixture no longer contains clumps. Set aside.
- Measure out egg whites, then add to a large bowl with salt and cream of tartar. Beat on high speed until egg whites appear foamy (approx 30s).
- Add granulated sugar slowly, and continue to beat on high speed until egg whites become a fluffy merengue (approx 3-5 min). You want the egg whites to have soft peaks at this point, meaning that when you stop the mixer and pull the beaters out, the egg white tips fold over onto themselves and don’t stand up straight.
- Add vanilla and chocolate extracts and continue to beat until you achieve stiff peaks, meaning the egg white tips do not fold over on themselves.
- Take your flour and confectioners sugar mixture and sift it using a fine sieve or manual sifter onto the top of the merengue. Discard any clumps or balls that do not sift properly.
- Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the merengue, in other words, do not furiously whisk, but gently scoop the ingredients onto the spatula and then over onto itself. You should expect to continue this folding process for about 50 turns. Make sure you press out some of the air as you do so. You will continue until the mixture is completely combined and resembles lava as you lift your spatula and let it drop into the bowl. It should flow slowly in an even stream. You are now ready to pipe your shells.
- Prepare a silicon baking sheet or parchment paper on a baking tray. Transfer your batter into a piping bag with a 1a round piping tip attempting to avoid any extra air bubbles in the process.
- Pipe ½ inch round discs onto your baking sheet, one sheet at a time. Pick up the baking sheet and slam it onto the counter or cooking surface 4-5 times to remove extra air bubbles. Use a toothpick to fill air bubble holes or pop larger air bubbles. Continue with the 2nd and 3rd baking sheet. You should be able to pipe approx 50-60 circles with this recipe.
- Set aside and allow to dry for 45 min to 1 hr or until the shells are not sticky to the touch. You want the shells to form a nice skin and dry completely prior to baking. Place shells in a draft free location in order for them to dry evenly.
- Preheat oven to 275°.
- Bake one tray at a time at 275° for 15 minutes. If your oven is electric, you should not need to turn the tray mid-bake. If your oven often bakes uneven or is gas, you may need to turn your tray after 7-8 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from baking mat/parchment paper. Add filling and enjoy! For best results, allow macarons to sit for 24 hrs in the fridge before eating. This will allow the cookie to develop fully with better texture and flavor.
- WHIPPED PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
- While the macarons are cooling, make the peanut butter frosting.
- Add peanut butter, confectioners sugar and vanilla to a bowl. With an electric hand mixer, or stand mixer, beat the contents until combined.
- Add butter 1 tbsp at a time and continue to beat until mixture is smooth and fluffy.
- FILLING THE MACARONS
- Add peanut butter frosting and pastry cream to two separate piping bags.
- Pipe the peanut butter around the outside edge of one side of the shells.
- Pipe the pastry cream into the middle of the peanut butter.
- Place the other half of the shell on top.
- Enjoy!
