Hazelnut coffee macarons, another tasty macaron recipe with warm and nutty flavours, perfect chewy texture and just the right balance of sweetness.
Hazlenut flour macarons have a different taste to almond macarons, and the hazelnut flavour from the hazelnut flour in this macaron recipe is very pronounced and really brings out the coffee macaron filling. Hazelnut coffee macarons work at any time of year and I enjoy them especially after dinner served as a petit four.
I make homemade macarons with Italian meringue as it gives them more stabilty and makes them harder to overmix. If this is your first time making macarons, check out my full step by step guide to making Italian macarons with Italian meringue first.
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Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need for these hazelnut coffee macarons.
Hazelnut macaron shells
- Ground hazelnuts
- Ground almonds
- Instant coffee powder
- Egg whites
- Brown granulated sugar/golden caster sugar
- Water
- Powdered sugar/icing sugar
Coffee cream macaron filling
- Cinnamon
- Double cream/heavy cream
- Instant coffee powder
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 145 degrees Celsius / 295 Fahrenheit.
Prepare and weigh out the ingredients, separating the egg whites from egg yolks. Take care not to get any egg yolk into the white.
Make the nut paste by sieving the ground almond and hazelnut and icing sugar to remove any lumps. Then blend them all together until they are a very fine consistency and thoroughly combined. Stir in a teaspoon of coffee powder and put the mixture into a large mixing bowl.
Mix the first lot of egg white with the ground nuts/powdered sugar mixture until it is fully incorporated.
Prepare the Italian meringue. Place the water and granulated sugar into a saucepan. Gently warm the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Turn up the heat, stop stirring and place the sugar thermometer into the mixture.
Once the temperature reaches 115 degrees Celsius/240 degrees, whisk the other egg whites in a separate large bowl until they form soft peaks. Then slowly start to pour the sugar syrup into the eggs, whilst continuing to whisk.
The Italian meringue will turn a smooth, glossy and opaque white. Continue to whisk once all of the sugar syrup has been added to bring down the heat until you can touch the side of the bowl and it feels warm but not hot.
Mix the Italian meringue into the nut paste in three stages.
Firmly mix in the first third of the Italian meringue with a metal or wooden spoon to loosen the paste. Fold in the remaining two-thirds one at a time using the softer spoon or spatula, being very gentle with the final third to not overmix the batter and make it too slack.
Pipe the macaron shells. Transfer the macaron batter to a piping bag, relax it slightly with your hands and then cut the tip off. Pip the macaron shells onto a lined baking tray, leaving a 2cm gap in between each macaron.
Pick up the tray and firmly smack it down onto a work surface twice to settle the Italian macaron batter and help prevent air bubbles.
Bake the hazelnut coffee macarons straight away for 17 minutes, then remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the tray.
Make the macaron filling. Stir a tablespoon of water into the ground coffee and then whisk it into the cream with the cinnamon until it thickens.
Put the coffee cream filling into a piping bag and pipe it onto half the hazelnut coffee macaron shells before sandwiching together with the others.
Hint: macarons taste best when they have had a little time to absorb some of the moisture from the filling and go slightly chewy.
Wine pairing
Try a sweet Madeira with these hazelnut coffee macarons, this fortified Portuguese wine will pair beautifully with both the coffee and hazelnut flavours.
Variations
Try some of my other macaron recipes!
- Spiced pumpkin cheesecake macarons
- Fig and Cardamom macarons
- Blueberry cheesecake macarons
- Mango macarons
- Chocolate cinnamon macarons
- Festive savoury macarons with goat cheese and cranberry
Equipment
- Weighing scales. Digital is best. Baking is a science, after all, so we need precision! I do not recommend using the cup system to make macarons.
- A sieve to ensure that the powdered sugar and almond flour is as fine as possible.
- A blender/food processor to thoroughly combine the almond flour and powdered sugar. This ensures a completely smooth finish on your macaron shells.
- A small saucepan to make your sugar syrup
- A jam or sugar thermometer to measure the temperature of the hot sugar syrup. The sugar syrup needs to be at a particular temperature to make Italian meringue and it is impossible to judge without a thermometer. The best thermometers for sugar syrup do not allow the bulb to touch the bottom or sides of the saucepan, thus ensuring you are measuring the temperature of the sugar, and not the pan.
- An electric whisk or stand mixer to whisk your egg whites into soft peaks before slowly adding the hot sugar syrup.
- Two large bowls, preferably glass. Try to avoid using a metal mixing bowl for the Italian meringue as it will conduct heat and prevent the mixture from cooling.
- A metal mixing spoon for combining ingredients more vigorously.
- A silicon mixing spoon or spatula for further, more gentle mixing.
- Baking sheets/trays - not high-sided ones as this builds up too much steam
- Silicon mat or baking parchment paper (but the silicon mats are better and allow for lower waste as they are not single-use)
- Piping bags - to pipe your macarons onto a baking tray, and then also to pipe your fillings.
Storage
Store leftover macarons in the fridge and use them within 3-4 days.
You can freeze macaron shells before filling them, and use within 1 month.
Top tip
I personally do not add extra sugar to the coffee cream filling, which will mean it does taste slightly bitter on its own. However, once sandwiched between two sweet hazelnut macaron shells, the flavour is perfectly balanced. If you have a very sweet tooth, you could add some sifted icing sugar to the filling.
FAQ
Hazelnut flour is less dense than almond flour, and this is why we use a mixture of the two. I find using a mixture of almond and hazelnut flour makes the best macarons.
Technically yes, but the issue can be the fat content and this needs to be carefully calculated. Nuts are naturally oily and the fat to sugar balance needs to be right in macaron recipes.
Hazelnut Coffee Macarons
Equipment
- 1 Weighing scales
- 1 Sieve Blender/food processor
- 1 Small saucepan
- 1 Jam or sugar thermometer
- 1 electric whisk or stand mixer
- 2 Large bowls, preferably glass
- 1 Metal or wooden mixing spoon
- 1 Silicon mixing spoon or spatula
- 3 Large baking sheets/trays
- 3 Silicon baking mat or baking parchment paper
- 2 piping bags
Ingredients
Almond paste
- 185 grams Powdered sugar (icing sugar or confectioners sugar)
- 93 grams Ground almonds
- 93 Ground hazelnuts
- 65 grams Egg whites
- 1 teaspoon Ground instant coffee /espresso powder
Italian meringue
- 185 grams Granulated sugar
- 100 ml Water
- 65 grams Egg whites
Coffee cream filling
- 500 ml Double cream /heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon Ground instant coffee /espresso powder
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 145 degrees Celsius / 295 Fahrenheit.
- Make the nut paste by sieving the almond and hazelnut flours and icing sugar to remove any lumps. Then blend them all together until they are a very fine consistency and thoroughly combined. Stir in the coffee powder and put the mixture into a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the first lot of egg white with the ground nuts/powdered sugar mixture until it is fully incorporated.
- Prepare the Italian meringue. Place the water and granulated sugar into a saucepan. Gently warm the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Turn up the heat, stop stirring and place the sugar thermometer into the mixture.
- Once the temperature reaches 115 degrees Celsius/240 degrees, whisk the other egg whites in a separate large bowl until they form soft peaks. Then slowly start to pour the sugar syrup into the eggs, whilst continuing to whisk.
- The Italian meringue will turn a smooth, glossy and opaque white. Continue to whisk once all of the sugar syrup has been added to bring down the heat until you can touch the side of the bowl and it feels warm but not hot.
- Mix the Italian meringue into the nut paste in three stages. Firmly mix in the first third of the Italian meringue with a metal or wooden spoon to loosen the paste. Fold in the remaining two-thirds one at a time using the softer spoon or spatula, being very gentle with the final third to not overmix the batter and make it too slack.
- Pipe the macaron shells. Transfer the macaron batter to a piping bag, relax it slightly with your hands and then cut the tip off. Pip the macaron shells onto a lined baking tray, leaving a 2cm gap in between each macaron.
- Pick up the tray and firmly smack it down onto a work surface twice to settle the Italian macaron batter and help prevent air bubbles.
- Bake the hazelnut coffee macarons straight away for 17 minutes, then remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the tray.
- Make the macaron filling. Stir a tablespoon of water into the ground coffee and then whisk it into the cream with the cinnamon until it thickens.
- Put the coffee cream filling into a piping bag and pipe it onto half the hazelnut coffee macaron shells before sandwiching together with the others.
Video
Nutrition
Food safety
- Do not leave boiling sugar unattended and keep away from animals and children.
- Wash hands and utensils after handling raw eggs.
Beth says
Wow these were so tasty! The hazelnut shells against the strong coffee filling was amazing