Banana Macaron shells filled with Coconut Buttercream make a sweet and tropical treat. Decorated with royal icing, these will surely delight any Minion fan.
Wouldn’t it be neat if you could have little helpers around the house with all your chores? What if they were adorable and fun-loving yellow minions?
I made these macarons for my lil man’s birthday party back in April because he is such a big fan of the Despicable Me movies.
These yellow guys love bananas, so to get the banana flavor in the macaron shells, I used freeze-dried bananas ground up in the food processor as well as banana extract.
To get that bright yellow color that resembled a minion, I added a tiny drop of lemon yellow food coloring.
For the filling, a buttercream frosting made with coconut cream is sandwiched in between to add a tropical burst of flavor.
My favorite part was bringing these guys to life. It was so much fun adding all the little details.
I used royal icing to pipe on the eyes and this food marker to draw on the hair, goggle bands and mouth.
Even though these little critters won’t be able to help clean up any of those dishes, they certainly look adorable and are sure to be a hit at any party!
- 179 grams powdered sugar minus 2 tablespoons
- 120 grams almond meal/flour
- 109 grams egg whites from about 3 eggs - aged at least 2 days. Let them sit out on the counter uncovered.
- 65 grams superfine sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure banana extract
- 2 tablespoons freeze-dried bananas ground
- 1-2 drops Americolor Soft Gel Paste in Lemon optional
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2-1/2 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract if desired
- 2-3 tablespoons coconut cream
- 1 cup royal icing separated and colored into white, black and blue
- Americolor Food Writer in Black
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- In a medium bowl sift together almond meal, powdered sugar, and ground dehydrated bananas.
- With a stand mixer or hand mixer, whisk egg whites at medium speed until the egg whites begin to foam. Slowly sprinkle in superfine sugar.
Slowly increase speed to medium-high and beat until a firm meringue forms with stiff glossy peaks.
- Beat in the banana extract and yellow food coloring.
- Use a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond meal mixture into the egg whites. Only fold the batter in one direction by sliding the spatula into the center of the batter, then lifting it up and letting the batter fall back onto itself. It generally takes about 40-45 strokes to work the batter, but this number isn’t as important as how the batter looks. The batter is ready to pipe when it has a smooth, shiny surface and flows like lava in one large ribbon off the spatula.
- Transfer mixture to a pastry bag with a plain round tip. (I used the No. 12 Wilton tip)
- Pipe rounds onto prepared baking sheets, leaving space between the macarons to allow the batter to spread.
- Once all macarons have been piped, pick up baking sheet with both hands and tap it firmly on counter several times. This will remove any air bubbles.
- Let macarons sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on humidity levels. The macarons are ready to bake when tops are no longer sticky to touch. Gently slide or remove paper templates from underneath before baking.
- Preheat oven to 300 F. When macarons are dry to the touch, bake *both trays at the same time (*if your oven has room, otherwise bake one at a time) for 12-14 minutes. Let macarons cool completely on parchment paper before removing and filling.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter on medium high speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Turn the speed to low and add coconut cream and powdered sugar, beating for 1-2 minutes until smooth. .Add in coconut extract is desired to intensify the coconut flavor. Turn mixer back on medium and beat for an additional 2 minutes until frosting is light and creamy.
- Match up the cooled macaron shells with similar sizes and shapes.
- Pipe filling onto a macaron shell and sandwich together with a second matched up shell. Repeat until all shells are used.
- Fill a pastry bag with royal icing using a small round tip.
- Pipe eyes with white royal icing and pupils using black royal icing. Using another bag filled with blue royal icing, pipe outline of goggles around eyes.
- Allow to dry for 3-4 hours.
- Using a food marker, draw on goggles, hair, and mouth.
Banana Macarons adapted from: Diary of a Mad Haus Frau
Coconut Buttercream Frosting adapted from: epicurious
Angie@Angie's Recipes -
They are too adorable to eat, Kelly. I love those freeze dried banana chips.
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely -
I bet your little man FREAKED when he saw these! I just love the Minions in Despicable Me. I want one of my own! Great idea using freeze dried banana!
Oliviq -
How cute are those , Kelly! i’ve never seen something like that before. Love them so much. You are very talented girl 😉
Eva @ Eva Bakes -
These are adorable, Kelly. I love that you used freeze dried bananas in the macaron shells – so clever! I guess both of us have macarons on the brain today, too. 🙂
Archana @ The Perfect Zest -
so adorable… and I love the coconut cream filling.. how tropical indeed. Now, only if I had a few real ones to help me around the house.