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Halloween Macarons shaped like chubby little bats are the treat that makes everyone at the party stop and stare, black cookies and cream shells, fluffy cookie crumb frosting, chocolate cookie wings, and candy eyes, and the batch I made last October got photographed more than the costumes. If you want an easier spooky sweet to bake alongside them, our easy Oreo balls use the same cookies and cream flavor with zero piping skills required.
Do not let macarons intimidate you, this recipe walks you through every fold, rest, and wing placement one step at a time.
Halloween Macarons Quick Look
- đź•’ Prep Time: 45 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 20 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 24 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 134kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Sweet cookies and cream with a chewy almond shell and tangy cream cheese frosting
- âś‹ Difficulty: Intermediate, a step up from our easy sugar cookies but so worth it
Quick Answer
Whip egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar to stiff peaks, tint the meringue black with gel coloring, then fold in sifted almond flour and powdered sugar to ribbon stage. Pipe small circles, rest them 15 to 30 minutes, and bake at 300 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Fill with cookies and cream frosting, press in chocolate cookie halves as wings, and finish with candy eyes.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Double sifting the almond flour. Two passes remove every lump so the shells bake glossy and smooth instead of gritty, which matters extra with dark colored macarons that show every bump.
- Cream of tartar stabilizes the meringue. The acid strengthens the egg white proteins so the whipped whites can survive 50 folds without collapsing.
- Gel food coloring, never liquid. Gel packs deep color into a drop or two, while liquid coloring would thin the batter and ruin the shell structure.
- The rest before baking. Letting the piped shells sit until they no longer stick to your finger forms a skin, and that skin is what forces the batter to rise up into the classic ruffled feet.
- A low 300 degree oven. Gentle heat dries the shells without browning them, which keeps the black color pure instead of muddy.
- Cream cheese in the filling. It balances the sweet shells with a little tang and holds the crushed cookies in a fluffy, pipeable frosting.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They are the showstopper of any Halloween dessert table, real French macarons dressed up as the cutest bats you have ever seen.
- They taste like cookies and cream candy in cookie form, and pair perfectly with a mug of our slow cooker witches brew for a full spooky spread.
- The recipe teaches you real macaron technique, master this one and every other macaron flavor becomes easy.
Key Ingredients
Macarons have a short ingredient list, which means every single item matters. Here are the ones that make or break the batch.
- Almond Flour: The base of every macaron shell. Sift it twice with the powdered sugar, any lumps left behind will show up as bumpy shells.
- Egg Whites: They build the meringue that gives macarons their signature feet. Older egg whites whip more reliably, so separate them a day ahead if you can.
- Cream of Tartar: A small insurance policy that stabilizes the meringue so it holds stiff peaks while you fold in the dry mixture.
- Black Gel Food Coloring: Gel only, liquid coloring adds too much moisture and deflates the batter. Add it with the vanilla until the color is a deep bat black.
- Chocolate Sandwich Cookies: They pull double duty here, crushed fine in the cream cheese frosting and snapped in half for those adorable bat wings.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Once you have the black shells down, this recipe becomes a whole Halloween bakery.
- Spider macarons: Skip the wings and pipe eight thin chocolate legs on the plate around each macaron.
- Pumpkin macarons: Tint the batter orange, pipe a green buttercream stem, and swap the cookie filling for spiced cream cheese frosting.
- Ghost white bats: Leave the batter untinted for white shells and use dark chocolate cookie wings for contrast.
- Different fillings: Chocolate ganache, peanut butter frosting, or salted caramel all work beautifully inside the black shells.
- No piping practice yet? Start with our jalapeno popper mummies for an easier Halloween win, then come back to the bats.
How to Make Halloween Macarons
- Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together twice and set aside.
- In a stand mixer bowl, whip the egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar, then slowly add the granulated sugar a little at a time. Whip on medium high until stiff peaks form, then stir in the vanilla and enough black gel coloring to reach a deep black.
- Sift the dry mixture over the meringue and fold it in with a spatula, at least 50 folds, until the batter flows in ribbons. Test a small dollop on a plate, the ridges should flatten out within 10 seconds.
- Pipe the batter into 1 1/2 inch circles an inch apart on two parchment lined sheets. Rest 15 to 30 minutes until the tops no longer stick to your finger, and preheat the oven to 300 degrees while you wait.
- Bake one tray at a time for 18 to 20 minutes with an empty sheet tray on the rack above to prevent browning. Cool on the tray 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese together, slowly add the powdered sugar, then the milk and vanilla, and beat 3 minutes until fluffy. Mix in the finely crushed cookie crumbs.
- Flip one macaron shell flat side up and pipe on a little frosting.
- Separate the chocolate sandwich cookies, scrape off the cream, and snap each cookie in half. Press one half into each side of the frosting as wings.
- Pipe a little more frosting over the wings and top with a second macaron shell to sandwich everything together.
- Dab a tiny bit of frosting on the back of each candy eye and press them onto the top shell wherever your bat looks best.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Weigh the almond flour and powdered sugar if you have a scale, 100 grams each. Macarons are the one cookie where precision genuinely pays off.
- Room temperature egg whites whip higher. Separate the eggs while cold, then let the whites sit out for 30 minutes.
- Do not rush the folding. Under folded batter bakes lumpy, over folded runs flat. Stop the moment it ribbons off the spatula and passes the 10 second test.
- The rest is not optional. If the shells go into the oven sticky, they crack instead of growing feet.
- Bake one tray at a time with a spare sheet pan on the rack above, it shields the shells from browning and keeps the black color clean.
- Let the filled macarons mature overnight in the refrigerator if you can wait, the shells soften into that perfect chewy texture.
- Scrape the cookie cream off the wings so they stick into the frosting cleanly and hold their angle.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These bats are the centerpiece of a Halloween dessert table, flank them with our mummy dogs for the kids and a batch of jalapeno popper mummies for the grown ups.
For the full party menu, ladle out mugs of witches brew hot chocolate and set out a plate of butterfinger brownies next to the macarons, nobody will leave hungry.
They also make an adorable homemade gift, box up four bats with a ribbon and watch people refuse to eat something that cute.
Store filled macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and bring them to room temperature for 15 minutes before serving for the best chewy texture.
Halloween Macarons FAQs
Halloween Macarons are intermediate level baking, but every tricky spot has a checkpoint. Whip to stiff peaks, fold until the batter ribbons, and rest the shells until they are not sticky. Follow those three gates and even a first timer can pull off bat macarons that look bakery made.
Cracked Halloween Macarons almost always skipped the rest. The piped shells need 15 to 30 minutes on the counter to form a dry skin before baking, if the tops still stick to your finger they are not ready. Oven temperature spikes can also crack shells, so check yours with an oven thermometer.
The rest forms a thin skin on top of each shell. In the oven, steam has to escape somewhere, and that skin forces it out the bottom edge, creating the ruffled feet macarons are famous for. Skip the rest and your Halloween Macarons crack on top instead.
Yes, Halloween Macarons actually improve overnight. Fill and assemble the bats, then refrigerate them in an airtight container up to 5 days ahead, the shells soften into the perfect chewy texture as they mature. Add the candy eyes the day you serve if you want them looking their sharpest.
Filled Halloween Macarons freeze surprisingly well. Layer them in an airtight container with parchment between layers and freeze up to 1 month, then thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Freeze them before adding the candy eyes, which can bleed color as they thaw.
White chocolate chips placed point side down with a mini chocolate chip dot work great on Halloween Macarons, or pipe small white frosting dots with black centers. Royal icing eyes from the baking aisle are another easy swap that holds up well.
Need one more spooky bite for the party tray? Our easy mummy dogs come together in 30 minutes flat.
Halloween Macarons
Ingredients
- 100 grams 1 cup almond flour
- 100 grams 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- black gel food coloring
Cookies and Cream-Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 4 chocolate sandwich cookies crushed fine
Bats assembly
Instructions
Macarons
- Sift together the flour and powdered sugar twice, set aside.
- In a stand mixer bowl, add the egg whites and mix until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and mix together on medium speed. Slowly add in the granulated sugar a little at a time. Whip egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Stir in vanilla and food coloring. (Add as much black food coloring as needed to get the color you want.)
- Sift in flour mixture and with a spatula, fold in the dry mixture into the egg whites. This will take a while, be patient. Keep folding until you can form ribbons (at least 50 folds). Then, place a small dollop on a plate, if the ridges flatten themselves out within 10 seconds you are ready.
- On two parchment lined cookie sheets, pipe out mixture into 1 1/2 inch circles one inch apart. Late sit on the counter top for 15-30 minutes, until you touch the top of the cookie and it doesn’t stick to your finger. While you are waiting, preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes one tray at a time. They should not be browned at all. To prevent browning, place another sheet tray on the rack above the cookies. Let cool on the tray for 10 minutes, take them off and cool completely on a wire rack.
Frosting
- Place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Cream together until mixed with a hand mixer on medium speed. Slowly add in the powdered sugar a little at a time until combined. Slowly add in the milk and vanilla, mix for 3 minutes on medium-high speed until fluffy. Mix in the cookie crumbs.
Bat Assembly
- Take one macaron and place it downside up. Pipe a little bit of the frosting.
- Take the chocolate sandwich cookies and separate the two sides. Scrape off the cream. Snap cookies in half and use each half as one wing. (See photos for exact placement.)
- Pipe a little more frosting on top and top off with another macaron.
- To place the eyes, just add a tiny bit of frosting on the back of each eyeball. Place them where desired.
Nutrition
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I made these and everyone loved them! I didn’t have black food coloring but it ended up working out great cause I drew elaborate faces on each one. Excellent recipe!
These are so adorable! I love throwing theme parties and these are perfect!
Beyond in love with these little cookie bats! Halloween just got a whoooole lot more festive around here! Fantastic!
These are the cutest!! Thank you so much for participating in the series and sharing such a great recipe. I can’t wait to try these little guys!