Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with these adorable leprechaun hat-inspired Key lime macarons! These almond cookies, complete with a whimsical hat-band design, are a fun way to add festive flair to your festivities. You can easily omit the hat bands for a treat perfect for year-round enjoyment!
These French macarons deliver a flavorful punch despite their petite size. With almond flour as their base, they are surprisingly more filling than some much larger cookies. The tangy buttercream filling bursts with flavor from an infusion of key lime juice.
A Perfect Occasion Treat
Ideal for any occasion, these macarons can take on a festive twist with a few drops of green food coloring, making them a fantastic treat for St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve decorated them with black fondant to create leprechaun-themed hat bands, adding a creative touch. The gold-colored fondant “buckles” are a fun detail, although they don’t need to be perfect to convey the festive spirit! For other occasions, forgo the decorations and simply enjoy beautiful green lime-flavored macarons!
Ingredients Overview for Key Lime Macarons
You’ll need almond flour, powdered sugar, egg whites, flavorings, and some decorative elements for making “hat bands.” The buttercream filling contains salted butter, more powdered sugar, and key lime juice, creating a sweet citrus flavor.
Making the Batter for Key Lime Macarons
Creating these macarons involves a careful balance of beating egg whites to stiff peaks and folding in the dry ingredients without overmixing. The batter should have a smooth consistency that allows for easy piping.
Cooling and Assembly
Once baked, the macarons are cooled completely before filling with the key lime buttercream. Use a piping bag and star or round tip to pipe the frosting onto the inside of half of the cookie shells—sandwich another shell (without frosting) on top for a finished macaron.
Store macarons on the countertop in an airtight container for two to three days. To preserve them for a longer shelf life, freeze them in an airtight container.
How to Make Leprechaun Hat Bands for Key Lime Macarons
To create Leprechaun Key Lime Macarons, follow these steps.
Black Fondant
Prepare the Black Fondant: Start by using white fondant to craft a leprechaun hat band. Add black gel coloring and knead until the color is uniform.
Roll Out the Fondant: Roll out a long strip of black fondant measuring approximately 12 inches long and 2.5 to 3 inches wide. Ensure the width will wrap around the center of the macarons once you cut the hat bands.
Cut the Strip: Using a food scraper or knife, cut a strip about 1/4 inch wide from the short side of the rolled fondant. Measure it to confirm it will fit around the macaron with a 1/8 to 1/4 inch overlap. A food scraper or dough cutter simplifies this process, as they often have rulers etched into them for precise measurements.
Test the Fit: If the test strip fits around a macaron, seal it by wetting the ends, overlapping them slightly, and pressing them together firmly.
Cut Additional Strips: Cut enough strips to fit around all the macarons. Wrap each strip around the macarons and seal them in place.
Gold Buckles
Prepare the Gold Fondant: Add gold gel coloring to a piece of white fondant. Knead until the color is uniform. Roll out a piece until thin.
Cut the Buckles: Use a knife or fondant cutter to cut a small square from the gold-colored fondant.
Create the Inner Square: Cut a smaller square to form the buckle shape inside the first square.
Position the Buckle: Place the finished buckle in the center of the black fondant belt.
Secure the Buckle: Lightly wet the back of the buckle to help it adhere, then press down firmly to seal it in place.
Use Fondant Cutters: To simplify the process of cutting out buckles, use fondant cutters with geometric shapes that decrease in size, allowing you to nest one shape inside another for precision.
Accept Imperfection: Remember, the buckles don’t need to be perfect; they simply need to capture the festive spirit of St. Patrick’s Day and the whimsical charm of leprechauns!
Other St. Patrick’s Day-Inspired Recipes You Might Enjoy
Click on each name or photo to link to the recipe.
Place a nonstick silicone baking mat or parchment paper on a baking sheet. (See Baking Options in Notes below.) This recipe will make enough macarons for several baking sheets.
Using a food processor, combine the almond flour and confectioners' sugar and process until the mixture is fine. Then, sift the flour mixture, discarding any large almond pieces if necessary. Set aside.
Using a mixing bowl and the whisk attachment, beat 6 egg whites until foamy. Add 1/3 of the sugar and beat 1 minute until the sugar dissolves. Add half of the remaining sugar and beat for 1 more minute. Then, add the rest of the sugar and beat until firm, glossy peaks form, about a minute or two.
Add the lime oil and a few drops of green gel coloring. Beat until well mixed. Be careful not to overbeat.
Use a spatula to gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Mix well. The batter will be thick. Then, with a hand whisk, beat the extra 1/2 egg white until frothy. Stir this egg into the almond mixture to moisten the batter.
Snip off the end of the ex-large piping bag and place the round tip into it. Then, place the batter into the bag. Fold over the top of the piping bag and then roll it down and hold the top so none of the batter can escape. Position the bag over the baking sheet and position it vertically straight. Pipe 1 1/2-inch circles onto the baking sheet. Leave room between each circle for the batter to spread.
Tap each baking sheet on the counter as you finish piping a full pan. Tapping will spread the macaron batter and also help remove air bubbles. Use a toothpick to burst any bubbles in the macarons. Let the macarons sit for 30-45 minutes to form a dried skin on top. In dry climates, they might dry out in 10 minutes. In very humid climates, it might take longer. Test the macaron skins with your fingertip. If the batter sticks to your finger, they are not ready and should sit longer. If no batter sticks to your finger, they are ready for baking.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Bake the macaron shells for 14-15 minutes. Do not brown them, or they will lose their color. Cool them completely after baking.
Remove the cooled macarons gently by pulling the mat (or parchment paper) away from the shells. Place the shells flat side up (upside down) on a flat surface to make adding the filling easier. They will also be easier to pick up.
Buttercream Filling
In a clean mixing bowl, beat the butter until fluffy.
Add the confectioners' sugar, cream, lime juice, zest, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Fit the star tip in the small piping, add the frosting, and pipe it onto half of the macaron cookies. Then, add the other cookie halves to make sandwich cookies.
Belts and Buckles
Belts: Cut a piece of fondant and work several drops of black gel coloring into it. Knead it until the color is uniform.
Roll out a long strip of black fondant that measures approximately 15 inches long by 2.5 to 3 inches wide. Ensure the width is suitable to wrap around the center of the macarons once you cut them.
Using a food scraper or knife, cut a test strip about 1/4 inch wide from the short side of the rolled fondant. Measure it to confirm it will fit around the macaron with a 1/8 to 1/4 inch overlap. A food scraper or dough cutter simplifies this process, as they often have rulers etched into them for precise measurements.
If the test strip fits around a macaron, seal it by wetting the ends, overlapping them slightly, and pressing them together firmly.
Cut enough strips for all of the macarons. Wrap each strip around the macarons and seal them in place.
Buckles: Begin by cutting a piece of the white fondant. Work a few drops of gold gel coloring into it and knead it until the color is uniform. Use a knife to freehand cut a small square from the gold-colored fondant or use a small fondant cutter. See Fondant Cutters in Recipe Notes for a source.
Create the inner cutout by cutting a smaller square inside the first to form the buckle shape.
Secure the buckle to the hat band by lightly wetting its back. Then, press down gently to seal it in place.
Notes
Weighing Ingredients
Macarons need precise measurements of dry ingredients. For best results, use a food scale to weigh the dry ingredients. Otherwise, measure carefully.
Use parchment paper on a baking sheet. To help guide the size of the macarons, draw a circle on the parchment paper using a 1 1/2-inch round cup or another object, spacing out the circles for the macrons to spread. Place the parchment paper onto the baking sheet with the side you drew on facing the baking sheet. You will be able to see the circles through the paper.
Use a Silpat-type nonstick baking mat. Some baking mats have circles printed on them for macaron making.
Or use a silicone mat with macaron cavities. This type of mat has small cavities that you fill with batter so they are all uniform. Do not overfill the cavities; the batter might run over the rims and distort the macaron shapes. Use a toothpick to help spread the batter until you gain experience filling the cavities.
Total Baking Time
Determine the total baking time by multiplying the cooking time by the number of pans needed to bake all the macarons. Total baking time is reduced when baking multiple pans at one time. However, if you bake more than one pan at a time, you may have to increase the baking time by half-minute increments because macarons can bake slower when more than one pan is in the oven.
Yield
This recipe makes about 50 macaron sandwich cookies.
Macaron Shelf Life
Macarons have a short shelf life of about three days, so freeze any leftovers in an airtight container. They will keep in the freezer for a few months.
