Bunny Popcorn Macarons

Bunny Popcorn Macarons, these cookies not only look beautiful, but they are also delicious with a rich buttercream filling.

To add a festive twist for Easter, Daniel King, Head Pastry Chef at QT Gold Coast in Queensland, adds popcorn dust and white chocolate bunny ears to each macaron. The filling is a simple buttercream. You can make the macarons ahead of time and freeze them, but don’t fill them until you’re ready to serve.

How to Make Bunny Ear Popcorn Macarons

Macarons

- Combine egg whites, confectioners sugar and almond meal, and mix until fully combined. Set aside.
- Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat to 250 degrees; meanwhile, whip the second set of egg whites on high speed. When the sugar water reaches the correct temperature, remove from heat and pour in a steady stream into the egg whites, with the mixer still running on low speed. Whip until stiff.
- Gently fold egg white mixture into the egg white, sugar and almond meal mixture in small batches, just until combined.
- Put mixture into with a pastry bag and pipe out onto baking sheet in dots of about 1 ¼ inches wide. Sprinkle with popcorn crumbs and let sit for 30 minutes, before baking at 275 degrees for 13 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack.

Buttercream

- To make the buttercream, beat butter until soft, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Then add confectioners sugar and mix until combined. Add corn syrup and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Put mixture into pastry bag and pipe dot of about 1 inch wide on one macaron; then sandwich another macaron on top.

Bunny Ears

- To make the bunny ears, melt the white chocolate; separate about ¼ cup of the melted white chocolate and add enough red food coloring mix to achieve a soft pink color. Set both chocolate mixtures aside.
- On a sheet of parchment paper, draw the rabbit ears using a black marker making sure you have space between each of the ears.
- Flip the paper over and use the drawings as a stencil. Using a pastry bag, color in the pink part of the ears, and place in fridge to set.
- Once set, remove from fridge and color the white parts of the ears, filling over the pink parts. Place back in fridge to set again.
- Once ears are set, gently place one on each side of the filled macarons, pressing in slightly to lodge them in place in the cream filling.

Recipe Notes

It’s important to measure the ingredients accurately to ensure the macarons turn out well.
Use a kitchen scale if possible to measure the ingredients by weight.
Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature before whipping them.
Be patient when folding the dry ingredients into the egg whites to avoid over-mixing.
If using food coloring, use gel or powder food coloring rather than liquid to avoid adding too much moisture to the mixture.
When baking macaron shells, they should form feet. To check if they’re done, lightly touch the top of a macaron with a spoon or your finger. If it’s wobbly, bake for another 1-2 minutes. If it’s set, it’s done. Bake until the macarons don’t move when touched.
After baking, let the shells cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. Then, move them to a cooling rack to continue cooling. If the macaron shells stick to the parchment paper or baking sheet, let them cool on the baking sheet a bit longer before removing. After cooling, the shells are ready to fill and sandwich together and add the bunny ears

Bunny Popcorn Macarons

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Author: Daniel King, Head Pastry Chef at QT Gold Coast in Queensland
Total Time: 1 hour 13 minutes
Yield: 20

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Description

Bunny Popcorn Macarons, these cookies not only look beautiful, but they are also delicious with a rich buttercream filling.

Ingredients

Macarons

3 oz. egg whites (from about 3 large eggs)
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup almond meal
1/3 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 oz. egg whites (from about 3 large eggs)
Popcorn crumbs

Butter Cream

2/3 cup soft butter
2/3 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
1 tsp. corn syrup

Bunny Ears

1 cup white chocolate
Red food coloring

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Instructions

Macarons

Combine egg whites, confectioners sugar and almond meal, and mix until fully combined. Set aside.
Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat to 250 degrees; meanwhile, whip the second set of egg whites on high speed. When the sugar water reaches the correct temperature, remove from heat and pour in a steady stream into the egg whites, with the mixer still running on low speed. Whip until stiff.
Gently fold egg white mixture into the egg white, sugar and almond meal mixture in small batches, just until combined.
Put mixture into with a pastry bag and pipe out onto baking sheet in dots of about 1 ¼ inches wide. Sprinkle with popcorn crumbs and let sit for 30 minutes, before baking at 275 degrees for 13 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack.

Buttercream

To make the buttercream, beat butter until soft, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Then add confectioners sugar and mix until combined. Add corn syrup and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Put mixture into pastry bag and pipe dot of about 1 inch wide on one macaron; then sandwich another macaron on top.

Bunny Ears

To make the bunny ears, melt the white chocolate; separate about ¼ cup of the melted white chocolate and add enough red food coloring mix to achieve a soft pink color. Set both chocolate mixtures aside.
On a sheet of parchment paper, draw the rabbit ears using a black marker making sure you have space between each of the ears.
Flip the paper over and use the drawings as a stencil. Using a pastry bag, color in the pink part of the ears, and place in fridge to set.
Once set, remove from fridge and color the white parts of the ears, filling over the pink parts. Place back in fridge to set.
Once ears are set, gently place one on each side of the filled macarons, pressing in slightly to lodge them in place in the cream filling.

Notes

Be sure to let your macarons sit for 30 minutes, so that they dry out a bit and form a “skin.”

For the bunny ears, if the chocolate starts to get too firm while coloring the pink chocolate, add a tiny bit of vegetable oil to bring it back to a liquid consistency.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 13
Category: Baking
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American