Dirty Chai Macarons

I've been on a bit of a chai kick ever since I made my chai sugar cookies. I love adding spices to baked goods and now I just want to put chai spice in everything! Chai lattes with a shot of espresso (AKA dirty chai lattes) are one of my favorite fall drinks, so I transformed them into dirty chai macarons! The shells are like a chai tea macaron and they're filled with espresso buttercream.

Update: I originally made this recipe using the French method, but updated them to use the Swiss method after having way more success with it!

Jump to:

• What You Need to Make This Recipe
• Step by Step Instructions
• Success Tips for Macaron-Making
• FAQ & Storage
• 📖 Recipe

What You Need to Make This Recipe

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Step by Step Instructions

Step 1 - Sift the dry ingredients

You want to get the dry ingredients as fine as possible for the macaron shells so that they're nice and smooth! To do this, you'll want to sift and chop the mixture. Weigh the almond flour, powdered sugar and chai spice in a small bowl, and then run them through a sifter. Try to break down any large chunks so they make it through the sieve. Then, pulse them in a food chopper. Sift them once again, but this time get rid of any big clumps!

Step 2 - Make the meringue

This is where the Swiss method comes into play! Weigh the egg whites and granulated sugar into your (very clean) stand mixer bowl, and then whisk them over a double boiler on medium-low heat. Once the mixture reaches about 100°F, move the bowl over to your stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, stir at low speed and gradually increase to high speed. When the meringue starts to look white, add the vanilla extract. Continue to whisk until it reaches medium-stiff peaks.

Step 3 - Macaronage and piping

The final steps for the macaron shells! Macaronage is the folding of the dry ingredients into the meringue and it's super important to get the right consistency! Only add about a third of the flour mixture at a time and fold very gently. You want to create as few air bubbles in the batter as possible. Once the batter falls off the spatula in a smooth ribbon without breaking apart, transfer it to a piping bag with a round tip. Pipe circles on a silicon baking mat about 1 ½ inches in diameter. When the mat is full, lift and drop the pan a few times to get any bubbles to surface, then smooth them out with a toothpick. (I recommend wearing earplugs for this!)

Step 4 - Bake the shells and make the filling

Let the shells sit at room temperature until they're dry to the touch. While they're resting, preheat the oven and make the espresso buttercream! The filling is super simple. All you have to do is mix together the butter, espresso, powdered sugar, milk and food coloring. Make sure the espresso (or coffee) is cold when you add it, otherwise it might not incorporate with the ingredients very well.

Success Tips for Macaron-Making

• Don't try to make them when it's hot and humid outside! If it's too warm/humid, the macarons won't set properly after piping and they may crack
• Weigh your ingredients instead of measuring. (If you don't have a kitchen scale, I definitely recommend getting one!) Accuracy is very important! (This is why my recipe is only in grams)
• Make sure your egg whites are room temperature and the bowl you use to whip them is squeaky clean! These are both very important in reaching stiff peaks.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just the right amount. This is tricky and will take practice to get the perfect consistency down. A lot of recipes say to fold until they batter is glossy and can smoothly form a ribbon, so I tried to capture it in the photo walk-through below.
• Use a silicone baking mat. Parchment paper works too, but the bottoms might not bake or stick as evenly as on a silicone mat. Macaron mats also have little circles on them to help get equal shell sizes!
• Make sure your oven is at the right temperature - you don't want the shells rising too quickly or too slowly. Chances are, your oven isn't at the temperature it says it's at, so I always have my oven thermometer in mine to make sure it's where it needs to be.
• Don't put the shells in the oven before they're ready. You should be able to smoothly run your finger across the tops without them sticking at all. The time they need to set will differ based on your kitchen's temperature/humidity, but I always wait at least 30 minutes.

FAQ & Storage

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