These adorable Bunny Macarons are the perfect treat for Easter. They’re decorated with an easy royal icing design and filled with my classic vanilla buttercream.
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How to Make Shaped Macarons
The easiest way to make shaped macarons is by using a template. This will help when piping the macarons because they will all be the same size. Below are some tips for piping these bunny macarons:
- Be extra careful when folding the batter – An over mixed batter can lead to the shells spreading too much and losing their shape.
- Use a small piping tip – It’s possible to use just one size piping tip for this bunny shape, it just needs to be a smaller tip. I used this piping tip for both the head and ears. The trick is to not squeeze the bag too much when piping the ears.
- Don’t tap the tray against the counter – Usually you tap the tray to remove any air bubbles, but this also makes the macaron batter spread a little. When piping shapes, instead of tapping the tray, just pop whatever air bubbles rise to the top.
Bunny Macaron Template
I created a bunny PDF template which you can download below. This is the easiest way to pipe shapes and the only way I’ve found to get the macaron shells to come out the same size.
Click on the link below for printable PDF template!
Royal Icing with Meringue Powder
Using meringue powder is one of the easiest ways to make royal icing. The meringue powder takes the place of raw egg whites in traditional royal icing so there is no need to refrigerate. You can store it at room temperature in an air tight container for about 2 weeks or even freeze it for up to 2 months.
Decorating Macarons with Royal Icing
Using royal icing is one of my favorite ways to decorate macarons. It’s such an easy way to make macarons look unique and more colorful. Below are some examples of how I like to use royal icing on macarons:
- Valentine’s Macarons – using a stencil to add letters
- Splatter Paint Macarons – dipping the macarons in royal icing and painting them
- Passion Fruit Macarons – adding a simple drizzle
Using edible ink markers can help make the decorating easier. Just mark where you would like to place the icing so you don’t have to guess where the decorations should go as you’re decorating. These markers are my favorite and I usually use them when I decorate with royal icing.
You can see below how I first used the markers and then added the royal icing.
Royal Icing Consistency
The consistency of your royal icing is very important when decorating macarons. For these bunnies you will need two different consistencies. The white royal icing for the ears will be a 15 second royal icing, which means when you mix the royal icing and lift the spoon, the icing will sink back into itself within 15 seconds. This helps the icing spread evenly and you won’t have any little bumps in the ears.
The black and pink royal icing will be a 20 second consistency because you want that icing to be a bit stiffer for the eyes, nose, whiskers and mouth. You don’t want the icing to spread. I decided to add little pink polka dots to the ears which you can do while the white icing is still wet or once it dries.
Royal Icing Recipe
This very small batch of royal icing is great for this recipe but you can double or triple it and store the leftovers for decorating future macarons.
- Powdered sugar – no need to sift unless it’s very clumpy
- Meringue powder – takes the place of raw egg whites
- Room temperature water – to adjust the consistency of the icing
Add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and a few drops of water to a bowl and mix with a spoon. Adjust the consistency as needed using a few drops of water at a time.
Can You Freeze Macarons with Royal Icing?
Yes, macarons can be frozen after adding the royal icing decorations. Once you’ve decorated your macarons, let the icing dry completely, place the macarons in an air tight container and freeze. Freezing will not affect the decorations at all.
More macaron art
More holiday macarons
Macaron resources
Bunny Macarons
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Strainer
- Whisk
- Stand mixer
- Two spatulas
- One 16 inch pastry bag
- Four 8 inch pastry bags
- Round piping tip (I used the Ateco 10)
- Two silicone mats
- Two half sheet pans
- Oven thermometer
- Three small glass bowls (to mix royal icing)
- Food coloring markers (optional)
Ingredients
- 90 grams powdered sugar
- 80 grams almond flour
- 70 grams egg whites (room temperature)
- 70 grams granulated sugar
- 2 grams egg white powder (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 drops pink gel food coloring
Vanilla buttercream
- ¼ cup salted butter (½ stick)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp heavy whipping cream
- ⅛ tsp vanilla extract
Royal icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp meringue powder
- ½ tsp water (room temperature)
- 2 drops black gel food coloring
- 1 drop pink gel food coloring
Instructions
Prepare dry ingredients
- Sift powdered sugar and almond flour using a whisk to break down any clumps. Set aside.
- Line sheet pans with silicone mats and place the templates under the mats.
- Insert the piping tip into the 16 inch pastry bag.
Make the meringue
- Whisk the egg whites on medium speed (speed 4) until you see small bubbles (this can take as little as 15 seconds sometimes).
- Slowly add 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, waiting about 10 seconds between each tbsp.
- Whisk until you start to see tracks in the meringue.
- Increase speed to 6 and continue slowly adding the remainder of the granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you’ve added all the sugar.
- Once you have soft peaks, stop the mixer, scrape the sides and add the vanilla extract and the pink gel food coloring.
- Whisk for about 5 more minutes, or until you have stiff peaks.
Combine ingredients
- Add in the powdered sugar and almond flour mixture in three parts, 1/3 at a time, folding each part until fully combined.
- Once the meringue and dry ingredients are fully combined, stop folding.
- Now you need to deflate some of the air in the batter by taking the spatula and smearing the batter on the sides of the bowl two or three times, and then folding once or twice.
- Repeat the process of smearing some of the batter on the side of the bowl and folding until the batter looks smooth and glossy and runs down the spatula slowly in ribbons.
- You can test the consistency by lifting the spatula and letting the batter run down. If it falls in ribbons and sinks back into itself within 30 seconds, the batter is ready.
- Transfer the batter to the 16 inch pastry bag.
Pipe the macarons
- Take the pastry bag and, holding the bag at a 90° angle, pipe the bunny head first and then the two ears.
- Pop any air bubbles with a scribe or a toothpick. Don't tap the tray against the counter because the macarons might spread out and lose their shape.
- Let the macarons rest until they form a skin and are no longer sticky.
- While the macarons are resting, preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Bake the macarons for 14-15 minutes.
- Macarons are ready when they no longer shift if you touch the tops.
- Let the macaron shells cool for at least 30 minutes before decorating.
Make the royal icing
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and a few drops of water and stir with a spoon.
- Continue stirring adding a few more drops of water if necessary.
- Check the consistency by lifting the spoon and counting how many seconds it takes for the icing to sink back into itself. If it takes around 20 seconds, it's ready.
- Separate the icing into 3 small bowls. Add 1 drop of pink color to one bowl and 2 drops of black to the remaining bowl. Leave the white icing as is, but add 1 or 2 drops of water to reach 15 second consistency.
- Transfer the royal icing to separate 8 inch piping bags, and cut a very small opening at the tip of each one.
Decorate the macarons
- If using the food coloring markers, mark the macarons where you'll be placing the royal icing.
- Now take the black royal icing and decorate the eyes, nose and whiskers.
- Add the pink icing for the mouth.
- Take the white icing and outline the ears and then fill them in. If adding the pink polka dots to the ears, you can add them after a few minutes when the white icing has started to dry a bit.
- Let the royal icing dry for about an hour.
Vanilla buttercream
- In a medium bowl, using the stand mixer, whisk the butter until smooth.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and whisk until fully combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and whisk until combined.
- Add the heavy cream and the vanilla extract and mix until creamy and smooth.
Assemble the macarons
- Fill an 8 inch pastry bag with the buttercream and cut a ¼ inch opening at the tip of the bag and pipe the buttercream.
- Top the filled macaron shells with the decorated shells and refrigerate for at least 24 hours so that the macarons can mature.
- When ready to eat, remove the macarons from the refrigerator at least 20-30 minutes before and let come to room temperature before eating.