Chocolate almond macaroons will be your new favorite dessert during the Passover holidays and into December too. Find out how to make them. Is a macaroon a cookie or a confection?
Almond Macaroon Pro Tips
Almond Flour? Almond Paste?
Typically, a macaroon is all about coconut—but not these, where almond is the main ingredient. Chocolate almond macaroons are like the candy counter bar with a bit of extra fruity oomph from figs. For the macaroon recipe below, we use slivered almonds that get ground with sugar, cocoa powder, and salt into almond paste that gets egg, and egg white added in with a touch of almond extract for extra almond flavor. Almond flour could be a substitute if you have it on-hand—the exception here is that the slivered almonds are measured before being ground, so you would first need to see what the equivalent of ground almond is to do a one-to-one swap with almond flour.
All about the Egg: Why Egg Whites Matter
The egg whites help provide stability to the macaroons. Adding in 1 egg adds richness too, in the form of the egg yolk.
Fig Forward
Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid California Dried Figs add a fruity flavor and chewy texture to an already chewy almond macaroon cookie. They also add a touch of natural sweetness and dietary fiber too. Try the Mission Figs for a familiar fig flavor, deep and rich, perfectly paired with cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate. Golden Figs would work well too, offering a more delicate fig flavor that’s a little nutty and tangy.
Chock Full of Chocolate
Two kinds of chocolate are added into the almond macaroon cookie for a deeply chocolatey flavor as cocoa powder binds to the ground almond and semisweet chocolate morsels get stirred into the cookie dough with the figs.
California Fig Chocolate Almond Macaroons
Ingredients
- 1 cup Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Figs
- 2 cups slivered almonds toasted, blanched
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 egg large
- 1 egg white large
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
- confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°. Line large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. (If using foil, oil or coat with nonstick spray.)
- Remove stems and chop figs to about 1/3-inch size; set aside.
- In food processor, process almonds with sugar, cocoa powder and salt until nuts are finely ground. Add egg, egg white and almond extract. Process until well blended. Remove dough from processor to separate bowl.
- Stir in figs and chocolate morsels. With lightly oiled hands, form rounded tablespoon portions of dough into balls. Place balls, 2 inches apart, on sheet. With oiled fingers, flatten each to 1 3/4-inch circle.
- Bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes or until cookies are set. (They will puff slightly and be dry on top. Do not over bake.) Cool on wire rack. Sift confectioners’ sugar over cookies. Store in airtight container.
