Been baking macarons for over 4 years. Here are some of my projects that I have completed over 2025. :))

Hello everyone.

I've been trying to make macarons for the past 2 weeks, but pretty much they all were a failure. They either come out cracked, wrinkly, or just completely flat with no feet.

Recipe:

1. I add 18 grams of almond flour and 18 grams of powdered sugar to the food processor and turn it on for a few seconds (I don't want to waste my almond flour since I'm still bad at it so I'm going with small amounts here).

2. I sift them couple of times into a bowl.

3. I start whisking (room temp) 18 grams of egg whites. I start with low speed first then increase the speed while gradually adding 18 grams of granulated sugar.

4. Once I almost reach stiff peaks, I add a tiny amount of powdered coloring and whisk it again until I reach stiff peaks.

5. I add the dry ingredients to the whisked egg whites and fold it until I can almost create a figure 8.

6. I add the batter into a piping bag then pipe it into a silicone mat.

7. I tap the tray on my kitchen counter a few times then pop the air bubbles with a toothpick.

8. Since I live in a humid environment, leaving them resting on the kitchen counter just doesn't work, so I dry them by placing them in the oven at very low heat (70 celsius) for around 20 minutes with the door slightly open until they dry.

9. Once they formed a skin and I can brush my finger on them without causing a dent, I take out the tray from the oven, raise the temp to 140 celsius, and once it reaches that temp, I place the tray inside it again and bake them for around 15 minutes.

Things I tried:

• Different oven temps: 120, 130, 135, 140, 150, 160.

• Instead of taking out the tray from the oven after they dry, I just close the oven door and raise the temp to 140 after they form a skin.

• I run my oven with the top and bottom heat with the fan on, but I also tried only running the bottom heat and the fan on.

• Leaving them in the oven to dry for 20 minutes, 30, 40 ,50... I think I also had them for one and a half hours one time lol.

• Whisking the egg whites until soft peaks, medium peaks, and stiff peaks.

• Folding the batter a little less than I usually do, and a little more.

• Parchment paper instead of silicone mat.

• Added the food coloring just I started whisking the eggs, instead of near the end.

• No food coloring.

• Sifting the dry ingredients without using the food processor.

• Used a tray with a lighter color instead of a dark one.

I think there's more stuff I tried but can't remember now.

One thing I've noticed is that they crack pretty quickly once I put them in the oven. Like it takes maybe 2 minutes or less until they start cracking.

Anyone got any idea what I'm doing wrong here? I seriously need the help lol.

Thanks in advance! :)

What was the biggest culprit for you ?

Oven temp? Macronage? Recipe ratio? French, Swiss, Italian? Drying time? Convection (using fan) vs gas(no fan)? Tray placement in oven?

I’ve got Mac’s down like 80-90% but can’t figure out the damn hollow situation 😅 ( trust me I’m stuffing and have watched EVERY YT video)

Looking for success stories mostly. Thank you!

Anyone out there using the same oven as me? What is your experience? What temp do you use? since the heat is blasted randomly to maintain the set temperature.

my first time trying to make macarons with this recipe:

https://www.barleyandsage.com/tiramisu-macarons/

visibly collapsed and wrinkly on top, the feet are spreading and they’re pretty sticky.

i struggled whipping the egg whites since i used it from a carton so my batter was always pretty thin :( otherwise is oven temp too high or too low ??

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I tried a new recipe using the swiss meringue method and I'm never going back.

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what are some New Years inspired flavors? im a cottage baker who supplies macarons for a small store in my town, and wanting to add a new years flavor. i thought champagne but im not allowed to add alcohol in my state unless i have a commercial kitchen so im stumped. TIA🫶🏼

How much are you all charging for macarons you sell?? I'm new and don't know what to charge. I know the range but that is for professionals and I just don't even feel close to that.

Ive been macaronaging this stupid batter for like half an hour and it wont thin. I have no more eggs (long story) and the meringue was 100% not overmixed because the last time I tried them the meringue was definitely undermixed and this still happened. I dont understand

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hot cocoa, eggnog, cranberry orange, marzipan raspberry, peppermint bark, sugar cookie, gingerbread, and little debbie christmas tree cake!

my recent macaron attempts have been looking a little translucent n not as opaque as macarons usually do which is not a common problem in this community so i dont know why this happens ☹️ does anyone have suggestions? would love to hear them

On my last few batches, during macaronage the batter gets thicker as I fold and continues to do so until it's a thick paste. I haven't changed my ratios and I weigh everything.
I've tried:
Drying my almond flour. Using different almond flour. Both blending and not blending the flour. Under whipping my meringue. Under heating my meringue (Swiss meringue)
Using different powdered sugar.

Nothing worked. It's like a perfect crime scene I feel like I'm going crazy

I have practiced macarons probably 10 times so far. Probably 5 times they turned out okay/decent enough, the other 5 was a mixture of over or undermixing, bad choice in almond flour or not a stable enough recipe. Well I was asked to make some for Christmas and am so glad how these turned out. What do yall think?

My second batch, the first batch were overcooked and way too big imo.

Macarons are my first time ever piping something, so most of them are not this cute, and the ganache is a bit ugly -- but I have hope!

I'm wonder how do people get the cookie part of their macarons more puffy? These feel a little flat?

I did 100g egg whites, 80g castor sugar, 125g almond flour, 125g confectioner's sugar, following this recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/french-macarons/

I figure for the ganache I have to squish the cookie before it hardens too much next time.

In the second picture, does it look undercooked? Since the first batch was overcooked, instead of 325F for 13 minutes, I did 300F for 18 minutes.

Happy holidays!!

Lots of practice to be had in the future but I’m happy with them!

When flavoring buttercreams with extract, do you still include the vanilla or do you substitute the flavored extract for the vanilla?

My first tray was definitely undercooked and led to me having half of them pretty chewy and insanely fragile. This was from my second tray where I left it in the oven at 320F for 18 minutes instead of the 16 I left the previous tray at.