I love giving perfect homemade macarons as a gift, and these Nutella Macarons were an absolute hit at my friend’s recent baby shower. Nutella, classic French pastries, and a room with more than one pregnant woman? It was a no brainer.

Nutella Macaron Recipe

If you’ve never had a macaron before, they are essentially a meringue cookie sandwich with a filling holding the two baked meringues together. It’s a sweet, crunchy, light pastry with either a jam or frosting-like filling.

(And I just learned that apparently, there is some heated controversy surrounding whether a macaron is a cookie or a cake! For me, I think it’s clearly a cookie…)

I made these Nutella macarons in honor of our upcoming trip to Paris. Macarons are the quintessential Parisian treat and crêpes smeared with Nutella can be found on just about every street corner, so they seemed like the perfect combination!

Typically, macarons are made with ground almonds (almond flour) but I really wanted to bring that Nutella flavor into the meringues and not just have it in the filling, so I used a combination of ground hazelnuts (hazelnut flour) and unsweetened cocoa powder to replace the almond flour. It worked perfectly, but you need super smooth hazelnut flour – if your ground hazelnuts have some big pieces you may want to sift them to remove those larger pieces before making the cookies.

Can macarons be frozen? Yes! To freeze macarons, store them in an airtight container and use within a month. Before serving, bring the frozen macarons back to room temperature for about 20-30 minutes. (They can also “thaw” in the refrigerator.)

Nutella Macarons Ingredients

• Egg whites, room temperature
• White sugar
• Powdered icing sugar
• Ground Hazelnuts (or hazelnut flour)
• Cocoa powder
• Salt, optional
• Instant Espresso Powder (optional)

For the Nutella filling:

• Nutella
• Powdered Icing Sugar, optional

Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.

Tip: if your ground hazelnuts have some big pieces you may want to sift them to remove those larger pieces before making the cookies.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Silicone Baking Mat<– can use parchment paper
• Cookie trays
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Stand mixer
• Silicone spatula <– I prefer this kind where the head is not removable
• Round piping tip and piping bag
• Sifter/fine mesh sieve
• Offset spatula

How to Make Nutella Macarons

In a large bowl, separate your egg whites (reserve the yolks for bread pudding, if desired) and allow them to come to room temperature while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Into a small bowl, sift the hazelnut flour, icing sugar, espresso powder (if using), and salt. Mix thoroughly to combine, and then set aside. 

Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, then add in the sugar and continue beating for 4 minutes until glossy, stiff peaks form (as shown below). You should be able to pull your beater away and have some of the egg whites form a little “tuft” on the tip of the beater.

Preheat oven to 285F

Carefully but thoroughly fold in the dry ingredients – some people will say exactly 25 folds, some 30 – just make sure you don’t have dry patches and that everything is well incorporated.

Spoon the macaron batter into a piping bag and snip the tip off for about a half inch opening.

Pipe the batter into 3″ circles on a silicone mat or parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bang the tray on a hard, level surface to remove any air bubbles, then wet your finger and smooth down any “peaks” on the macarons.

Bake for 10 minutes, until  the glossy appearance has become matte, the macarons have “feet” (that little bubbling at the bottom) and the feet look cooked through. (If they look uncooked when you take them out, immediately return them to the oven.)

The macarons are done when they just begin to separate from the parchment. Cool completely on a wire rack.

You can use straight Nutella for the filling, or mix the Nutella with powdered sugar for a thicker paste.

Use an offset spatula or an icing bag to top one macaron, and then find a similarily sized macaron to complete the sandwich. Repeat with all meringues.

Pin this Nutella Macaron recipe:

Grab your free printable for our super simple Nutella macaron recipe:

Continue to Content

Yield: 24 macarons

Nutella Macarons

Print

The best macaron recipe if you love Nutella. A fun Nutella dessert recipe for parties or gift-giving

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/4 cups granulated white sugar
• 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 2/3 cups powdered icing sugar
• cup ground hazelnuts (or hazelnut flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)

For the Nutella filling:

• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 1 cup powdered icing sugar, optional

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, separate your egg whites (reserve the yolks for bread pudding, if desired) and allow them to come to room temperature while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
2. Into a small bowl, sift the hazelnut flour, icing sugar, espresso powder (if using), and salt. Mix thoroughly to combine, and then set aside. 
3. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, then add in the sugar and continue beating for 4 minutes until glossy, stiff peaks form (as shown below). You should be able to pull your beater away and have some of the egg whites form a little "tuft" on the tip of the beater.
4. Preheat oven to 285F
5. Carefully but thoroughly fold in the dry ingredients - some people will say exactly 25 folds, some 30 - just make sure you don't have dry patches and that everything is well incorporated.
6. Spoon the macaron batter into a piping bag and snip the tip off for about a half inch opening.
7. Pipe the batter into 3" circles on a silicone mat or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
8. Bang the tray on a hard, level surface to remove any air bubbles, then wet your finger and smooth down any "peaks" on the macarons.
9. Bake for 10 minutes, until the glossy appearance has become matte, the macarons have "feet" (that little bubbling at the bottom) and the feet look cooked through. (If they look uncooked when you take them out, immediately return them to the oven.)
10. The macarons are done when they just begin to separate from the parchment. Cool completely on a wire rack.
11. You can use straight Nutella for the filling, or mix the Nutella with powdered sugar for a thicker paste.
12. Use an offset spatula or an icing bag to top one macaron, and then find a similarily sized macaron to complete the sandwich. Repeat with all meringues.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, Perfect Topping for Pancakes, 26.5 Oz Jar
• 
  Yupik Ground Natural Hazelnut Meal (Powder, Flour)
• 
  NESCAFÉ Gold Espresso Instant Coffee, 100 g Jar - Imported from Canada

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 118Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 53mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 2g

Sugar, Spice and Glitter uses an auto-generate nutrition calculator. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate unless analyzed in a scientific lab, so these should be considered more of a guideline than medical information.

Pin this Recipe for Later

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

These Nutella macarons are such a fun take on the classic chocolate macaron, but obviously so much better because NUTELLA.

For more fun macaron recipes, check out our Heart-shaped Strawberry Macarons or our Halloween Macaron Cake.

Check out our other delicious Cookie Recipes: