Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons

If you’re looking for a playful baking project for half term, these Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons are as fun to make as they are to eat. My 6-year-old daughter, Summer, insisted we create bear-shaped macarons together this week. She adores cookies and cream biscuits, so the flavour choice was obvious. And honestly, Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons might just be one of the cutest designs we’ve made so far.

What I love most about macarons is this: once you’ve mastered your base shell recipe – the right ingredient ratios, a stable meringue, controlled macaronage and precise baking temperature – creativity becomes the easy part. With a reliable foundation, you can adapt colours, shapes and flavours endlessly.

If you’re new to Swiss meringue macarons, I’ve explained the technique in even more detail in my Tiramisu Macaron recipe, which walks through the meringue stage step by step. That same core method is used here.

Why you’ll love these Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons

• Perfect holiday baking activity with children
• A reliable Swiss-method macaron base
• Creamy cookies and cream buttercream filling
• Customisable for birthdays, baby showers or themed parties
• Beautiful for gifting or celebration dessert tables

These Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons use the same shell ratio I trust for all my macarons. The only difference is the addition of finely blitzed cookies and crumbs and a small portion of reserved plain batter for decorative details.

Cookies and Cream Bear Macaron Shells

Yield

Approximately 30 assembled Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons (3 trays of shells).

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 210g almond flour (blitzed in 10 short pulses)
• 200g icing sugar (sieved)
• 5 cookies and cream biscuits, cream removed completely and blitzed to a fine flour consistency. Always remove the cream filling from the biscuits when adding to shells. The fat content will destabilise your batter.

Meringue

• 180g egg whites (fresh or bottled/carton)
• 165g caster sugar

Method

Make the Swiss meringue

I use the Swiss method for all my macarons as it creates a stable, glossy meringue with excellent structure.

1. Add egg whites and caster sugar to the metal bowl of your stand mixer.
2. Place over a saucepan of gently simmering water.
3. Stir continuously with the whisk attachment to prevent cooking the egg whites.
4. Heat until the mixture reaches around 40-45°C and the sugar has fully dissolved (rub between fingers to check – no grains).
5. Transfer to the stand mixer and mix on speed 2 for 1-2 minutes to remove large bubbles. Increase to speed 5 and whip until stiff, glossy peaks form.

For deeper explanation on identifying stiff peaks, refer to my detailed guide in the Tiramisu Macarons post.

Prepare the dry ingredients

While the meringue whips:

• Blitz almond flour briefly (avoid over-processing as this releases oils).
• Sieve icing sugar directly into the almond flour.
• Whisk thoroughly by hand.

This whisking step is crucial. It coats the almond particles evenly with icing sugar, keeps the mixture light and dry, and prevents clumping when folded into the meringue.

Reserving plain batter for bear details

Because we’re making Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons, we need plain batter for the facial details.

My dry-to-meringue ratio is approximately 1.25.

• Reserve 30g of meringue.
• Add 37.5g dry mixture to that portion.
• Mix gently until lava consistency is reached.

From this:

• Leave some plain (for nose area)
• Tint a small amount black (for eyes and nose)

For the remaining dry ingredients, mix in the cookie crumb flour before folding into the remaining meringue.

Macaronage

I use the paddle attachment briefly for control:

• Speed 1 for 15-20 seconds
• Scrape bowl
• Another 15-20 seconds
• Finish folding by hand

Aim for a slow lava-like flow.

I don’t rely on the figure-8 test. For beginners especially, it often means you’ve gone slightly too far. It’s always safer to stop slightly early. Over-macaronaged batter leads to flat shells, weak structure, ruffled feet. Slightly under-macaronaged batter will continue loosening slightly in the piping bag.

Piping the bear shape

I use a printed bear template placed under teflon or silicone mats.

Nozzle guide:

• Wilton 12 – main face circle
• Wilton 10 – ears
• Wilton 4 – nose patch
• Wilton 2 – eyes and nose

Yes, that means four piping bags.

Pipe all face circles first, tap trays firmly then pipe ears. Add nose patch with plain batter and finish with black detailing (eyes and nose).

This recipe yields three full trays of bear shells.

Baking the Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons

Preheat oven to 145°C (fan off).

1. Place first tray on the back of an aluminium baking tray and put it into the oven immediately after piping.
2. Leave the oven door slightly ajar for 3 minutes to dry shells.
3. Close door and bake for 17 minutes.
4. After baking, open door slightly and leave shells inside for 2 minutes before removing.

Repeat for the remaining trays. Reduce initial drying time to 2 minutes if shells have already rested longer while waiting.

Cool completely before removing from mats.

Once cooled, use an edible cake pen to draw the mouth and eye details. Summer proudly took on this job – occasionally adding colourful bows to a few bears, which honestly made them even cuter.

That’s the joy of making Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons with children.

Cookies and Cream Filling

For the filling, I use my Swiss meringue buttercream base:

• Prepare a batch of Swiss meringue buttercream.
• Add 5 cookies and cream biscuits (cream included this time), blitzed to fine crumbs.
• Beat until smooth and evenly distributed.

Pipe filling onto one shell and sandwich gently.

Storage

• Mature in the fridge 24 hours before serving for best texture.
• Store in airtight container up to 5 days.
• Bring to room temperature before serving.

Final thoughts

These Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons are a wonderful example of how a solid macaron foundation allows creativity to shine. Once you’re confident with the Swiss method, you can adapt this into bunny macarons for Easter, pumpkin macarons for Halloween, snowman macarons for Christmas or character macarons for children’s birthdays.

If you try these Cookies and Cream Bear Macarons, I’d love to hear how they turn out. Baking memories with your little ones is always worth the extra piping bags.