Cookies & Cream Macarons – A classic French cookie, with a cookies & cream twist. Made from a classic French macarons recipe with chocolate cookie crumbs added to the shell recipe and filled with a cookies & cream buttercream
With every successful new recipe, I immediately start to think about what new variations I can make of that recipe. For macarons in particular, each new recipe gives me a boost of confidence so I try to challenge myself to make a new macaron recipe that’s just a little more difficult.
The pistachio macarons I made a few months ago are probably the hardest macaron recipe I’ve made so far, just because it requires using pistachio flour, as well as the traditional almond flour so it’s a little tricky that way. So, for my new macaron recipe, I didn’t think I could challenge myself much more than that. Therefore, I decided to pick a flavor that speaks to my soul: cookies & cream.
You guys know how much I LOVE cookies & cream anything. I talk about my obsession extensively in this recipe for cookies & cream cupcakes.
And so I used my classic macaron recipe, changed a few steps, and created my Cookies & Cream Macarons!
How to make macarons
Macarons can seem intimidating, especially if you’re not an avid baker. But if you do your research and properly prepare yourself, you have nothing to worry about!
Lucky for you, I’ve done the research for you. Years ago, I failed my first macaron attempt so I decided to take a course on macarons so I could learn the technique first-hand. I detailed my experience and everything I learned in this post for nutella macarons. I highly recommend reading that post to get everything you need to know about making macarons.
What makes this recipe unique
This recipe uses my basic, traditional recipe for macarons and makes a few modifications to make it. First, I added in crushed Oreo crumbs. It’s important, when adding dry ingredients to macarons, to make sure you remove some so that the macaron dough isn’t too thick. So I remove some almond flour and some sugar to accommodate the added Oreo crumbs.
Next, I used a Oreo buttercream filling so I had to make that from scratch, which is super simple. I used the exact recipe from these cookies & cream cupcakes.
Finally, I added a few Oreo crumbs to the piped macaron shells before they were baked so they stuck to the tops. I just like the look of the cookies with the dark specks on top so I did that at the last minute to about half of the cookies.
Tips & Tricks
- Macaron dough is super delicate so it is so VERY important that you process the Oreos into the smallest crumbs that you can. Otherwise, you will end up mixing the macaron dough too much and it will be too thick to push through a piping tip.
- Weighing ingredients for macarons is incredibly important so if you don’t have a food scale, this is the recipe (or any macaron recipe) is the recipe to pull the trigger and buy one. I recommend getting a digital version with grams and ounces. This is the one I have.
- It is super important to age your egg whites before you make the meringue. This means that you let the egg whites sit at room temperature for 24-48 hours. This will help the meringue get to the consistency you need. I’ve skipped this step once and the result was super wet macarons that cracked on top. I’ve never skip it again!
- Make sure you visit my Nutella Macarons post so you can download a template for the macarons. I still use this template to make sure my macarons are all the same size and shape.
Cookies & Cream Macarons
Ingredients
For the cookies & cream macarons:
- 6.7 ounces powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs super fine
- 3.7 ounces almond flour
- 4 ounces egg whites (about 4 large egg whites), room temp
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar
- cookies & cream buttercream recipe below
For the cookies & cream buttercream:
- 3/4 cup butter unsalted, softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs super fine
Instructions
For the cookies & cream macarons:
- Prepare two baking sheets by placing two macaron templates on each sheet. You can print the templates above. Place parchment paper over the templates. Set baking sheets aside.
- Place oven rack in the lower half of the oven, but not all the way to the bottom. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Add powdered sugar, cookie crumbs, and almond flour to the bowl of a food processor. Process the ingredients for about 30 seconds so that the mixture is super fine.
- Sieve the flour and sugar mixture three times. Set mixture aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add egg whites and cream of tartar and begin to beat on medium-high until it begins to foam. Once it starts to get foamy, begin to slowly sprinkle the granulated sugar into the egg whites until it's all been incorporated. Increase the speed to high to whip the meringue into stiff peaks. The meringue should have the consistency of shaving cream, NOT soft serve.
- Once the meringue is done, add one-third of the sifted flour mixture to the meringue and fold with a spatula. Do this step very carefully and slowly, cutting the mixture down the middle and swooping around. Once it's incorporated, add a second-third and gently fold in. Then, add the final third. Mix just until it's incorporated. Do not over mix. The consistency should be like slow-moving lava. To check for consistency, the batter should flow from your spatula like thick lava and hold a ribbon for a couple seconds. If it falls into clumps and doesn't fall slowly, it is not mixed enough. Keep mixing slowly so that the batter deflates a bit and the proper consistency is reached.
- Transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with a smooth, round 1/2 inch tip. Holding the bag in two hands directly over the parchment, pipe a small amount of batter into the first circle stencil. Stop pipping right as the batter reaches the edge of the circle. The batter will spread so don't add too much. Move on to the other circles until all the batter is gone. When you get to the end of the batter, a lot of it will stick to the bag. To push it down, use the edge of a bench scrapper.
- After you've pipped all the circles, smack the baking sheets on the counter a couple times to release air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop all the air bubbles. If you don't do this step, the air bubbles will release steam while baking and crack the shells.
- Let them sit to dry out until the tops are smooth to the touch, about 30 minutes. They are done when you rub your finger over the top and your finger doesn't stick.
- Bake macarons in preheated oven, one sheet at a time for 14-16 minutes. Make sure to rotate the sheet halfway through, for even baking. Remove from oven and let them cool for 5 minutes before transferring parchment sheet to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- While macarons cool, make the cookies & cream buttercream. See recipe below. Add to a piping bag without a tip.
- Lay half of the macarons flat side up on a baking sheet. Pipe a small cherry-sized amount of buttercream in the center of one shell. Top with the other shell and gently press just enough to push the filling out to the edges. Do this for all the macaron shells until done.
- Once filled, macarons can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to three days.
For the cookies & cream buttercream:
- Make buttercream frosting by beating softened butter until super fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla and continue beating to combine. Add crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and beat on low to combine.
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More recipes you’ll love:
Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
Nutella Macarons
Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
I made these tonight and they were perfect!! It’s taken me forever to work up the nerve to make macarons. I’ve been craving them, so I went for it. Your recipe was easy to follow and the tips were incredibly helpful! Thanks for taking what I’m sure was a great deal of time to perfect a recipe and share it!!
Aw thank you so much! I am so glad you liked them!
I’m diving into the world of macarons and this is the next version I want to try. Does it make 40 sandwiched macarons/80 individual cookies) or 20 sandwiched/40 individual cookies?
20 sandwiched cookies. I made sure to update the recipe to make it more clear. Thank you for the question!
I absolutely love macarons! They are one of my favorite dessert treats! These looks amazing!
I devour everything cookies and cream. It is always the ice cream flavour I choose, so I would be all over these macarons!!
Omg these look DANGEROUS in the most delicious way! I, like you, love anything cookies and cream!
I absolutely have try these! Just truly stunning!
Macarons are one of my favorite cookies so I love to see new flavors like this come about. These not only look tasty, but they are really pretty with all of their speckling too!
These are cute and surely delicious. A very different color combination to it. Love the frosting and surely the kids to relish.
Oh my cookies and cream in macaron form?! Yes please!! I love making macarons and am always looking for fun variations. Thanks for the tip on making sure the oreo crumbs are super fine so I don’t over mix.
Oh be still my beating heart – two of my favorite things together at last! They look so perfect – time to dust of my baking kit!
These are so beautiful and I bet they taste absolutely delicious! I love cookies and cream anything!
These look too good to be true! Not only do I love macaroons but cookies and cream is my favourite flavour! Can’t wait to try yours 🙂
I love love love Macaron!! I have only attemtped once to make them and it was a total fail. These look delicious and makes me want to try again. I will let you know if I attemtpt to do so , LOL.
Macaroons are definitely tricky to make but so delicious! I will have to try this recipe with the cookies and cream.
I am so intimidated by the prospect of making these. I love them though. I really want to try it.
I have never made my own macarons, but they don’t look too difficult and I love this flavour!
These look beyond amazing and with your directions, tips and tricks I may just be able to pull these off!!
I love cookies and cream desserts! These macarons look so fancy and beautiful!
These Macrons look so picture perfect and delicious. Lovely color and frosting too.
I am in love with these. So thankful for all the tips and hacks to get these right. I will try it since my girls love cookies and cream and macaroons.
I love a classic cookie like this! Macarons are a favorite of so many and I love the added twist of cookies and cream. Great job, can’t wait to make these soon.
These look too delicious to eat but I’m sure I’d manage somehow. What a beautiful Macaron!
OMG these look SO delicious! I have to try to make them.