Celebrate spoopy season with these cute 👹 MIKE WAZOWSKI 👹 macarons!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. This design was for an Instagram paid partnership with Aiya Matcha to promote their roasted matcha powder.
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About these Mike Wazowski macarons
Who else loved watching Monsters Inc. as a kid?
It’s one of my favorite movies, so when Aiya Matcha suggested this design to promote their new matcha powder, I was super excited! I spent some time thinking about how I could kawaii-ify Mike Wazowski, and came to a conclusion that I often find myself making… just. add. blush. And I swear, adding blush or even a tiny sparkle in a character’s eye makes SUCH a big difference. So, that’s exactly what I did and how these kawaii Mike Wazowski cookies were born.
Like many of my macaron recipes, this design is quite simple. Only one colored batter is made, which is a pastel green. The decorations were added post-bake using melted white chocolate, with some dyed a dark blue-green for the iris and pink for the blush. Then, I used melted milk chocolate for the pupils.
For the filling, I made my regular cheesecake recipe, but stirred in roasted matcha powder. This added a rich, nutty flavor with hints of cocoa, and it was soooo good. And of course, the filling wasn’t too sweet, which is one of my priorities when making desserts!
Whether you follow this recipe for the design or just the filling, I hope you have lots of fun! Happy baking!
Tips for baking and decorating
Use a kitchen scale
Macarons are incredibly finicky. A kitchen scale allows you to measure all the ingredients correctly and helps you create consistent, full, sturdy shells. AND, if you use a cute kitchen scale like this heart-shaped one, it’ll increase your overall happiness by at least 10%.
Decorating with melted chocolate
You can use a piping bag, cookie scribe, or toothpick to add on the details. I used a piping bag for these guys.
For the white chocolate, you’ll want to use oil-based food coloring or the chocolate will seize up and become lumpy. However, if you don’t have oil-based food coloring, you can try mixing in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time! The chocolate should come back together. Maaagic.
Storing the cute roasted matcha macarons
Store the Monsters Inc. cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them for up to 1 month. Eat at room temp.
I really hope you enjoy this recipe. If you make these cute Mike Wazowski cookies, I’d love to see them. You can tag me at #bitesbybianca / @bitesbybianca on Instagram. Enjoy!
Other cute macaron recipes
Check out this link for peanut butter dogs, chocolate bunnies, Thai tea bears, strawberry cheesecake Kirbys, Oreo bears, lemon duckies, chocolate pigs, and more!
Mike Wazowski Macarons with Roasted Matcha Cheesecake Filling
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Ingredients
For the French macaron shells:
- 50 g egg whites, room temperature
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 60 g almond flour, sifted
- 50 g powdered sugar, sifted
- gel food coloring (green)
For the roasted matcha cheesecake filling:
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ – 1 ½ tablespoons roasted matcha powder, adjust to taste
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1-3 tablespoons powdered sugar, adjust to taste
For the decorations:
- 1 tablespoon milk or dark chocolate, melted
- 5 tablespoons white chocolate, melted
- oil-based food coloring, see steps (blue, green, red/pink)
Instructions
Preparation:
- Put printed macaron templates on baking trays. Place silicone baking mats or parchment paper on top of templates.
- Set up one large piping bag with a medium round tip. If you do not have a round tip, you can just snip the end of the bag before piping.
For the French macaron shells:
- In a medium bowl, mix the sifted almond flour and powdered sugar.
- Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer. Set up a stopwatch to time how long to whip the meringue. (These times are listed to help beginner macaron makers. With practice, you can go by eye.)0:00 – 4:00 minutes: Mix on medium-low for 4 minutes (Kitchenaid speed 4). Add about a drop of green food coloring. I used a little less than a drop, since I wanted more of a pastel green. 4:00 – 9:30 minutes: Turn the mixer to medium speed (Kitchenaid speed 6). Add a third of the granulated sugar. After 30 seconds, add another third. After another 30 seconds, add the last of the granulated sugar. Keep mixing at medium speed until you have reached a total of 9:30 minutes. The meringue should be balled up onto the whisk, very thick, glossy, and have stiff peaks. If not, keep mixing at 30-second intervals at Kitchenaid speed 8 until it is.
- Dump in all of the powdered sugar + almond flour to the meringue. Gently fold the macaron batter, often scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add more food coloring if you want a deeper color.
- Fold the batter until it reaches a thick, glossy consistency and flows off the rubber spatula into ribbons. To test if it is ready, allow the batter to flow off the spatula and into the batter. If the ribbons do not melt into the rest of the batter after 30 seconds, continue folding. Be careful not to over mix. When it passes this test, transfer the batter to your piping bag.
- Pipe about 16 round shells onto your silicone mats/parchment paper, using the macaron template as a guide.
- Tap the trays against the counter a few times to get rid of air bubbles. If there are bubbles on the surface, you can use a toothpick or cookie scribe to pop them. Popping the air bubbles helps stop them from cracking when being baked.
- Allow the macarons to sit out at room temperature to dry for at least one hour. They will be ready to bake once the surface of the macaron is matte and dry to the touch. If it is a really humid day, it can sometimes take 2 hours for them to dry.
- Preheat the oven to 325F. Place an empty baking sheet upside-down on the middle rack.
- Place the baking sheet with the macarons on top of the upside-down baking sheet. The upside-down sheet will help the macarons bake more evenly, decreasing the chances of cracking. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate. Drop the oven temp to 310F (to prevent browning), and bake for 5-10 more minutes. To test if they are done baking, gently push the side of one shell. If it wiggles on the sheet, they need to be baked longer.
- Remove the macarons and place them on a wire rack. Bake any remaining macaron shells.
- Allow macarons to fully cool before peeling them off the parchment paper or silicone mats.
For the roasted matcha cheesecake filling:
- In a medium-large mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the heavy cream until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Mix in the roasted matcha powder until combined.
- Taste test the filling! If it is too tart, add 1 tbsp powdered sugar at a time. Make sure not to overmix, or the filling will become too loose. If it does become too loose, whip in a small splash of heavy cream until it fluffs up again.
- Transfer filling to a piping bag and snip a medium tip.
Assembly:
- Match the macaron shells, lining up each pair on your work surface.
- For the details, you can use a toothpick, cookie scribe, or piping bag.
- Use about 4 tbsp of melted white chocolate to add the eyeballs and horns. Save any extra for the white sparkle on Mike's eyes later.
- Add blue + green food coloring to 1 tbsp melted white chocolate. Use this for Mike's irises. Note: If you don't have oil-based coloring, your chocolate will seize and become lumpy. To counter this, add in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable), and mix until it comes back together.
- Use melted milk/dark chocolate for Mike's pupils.
- Use melted white chocolate for the white sparkle on Mike's eyes. Transfer remaining melted white chocolate to a bowl.
- Stir in pink oil-based food coloring to the remaining melted white chocolate. Use this for the blush.
- Pipe the roasted matcha cheesecake filling on the bottom shell, then add the matching shell on top.
- Leave macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 2 hours before eating. This allows them to mature, making them softer, chewier, and more flavorful. Eat at room temperature.
- Store the macarons in an airtight container. They can last in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them for up to one month! Eat at room temperature.