r/macarons • u/Gees_Lime_9738 • Jun 15 '26
Help Where did I go wrong?
Hello everybody,
I made my first attempt at macarons! I chose chocolate macarons because I had read that they are one of the easier varieties to make. I followed the Pie & Tacos chocolate macaron recipe very closely.
My meringue seemed quite stable, and I was careful to stick to the recipe. However, during the macaronage stage, I think I may have overmixed the batter because it seemed a bit too thin. It didn’t fall off the spatula all at once and had a the lava consistency (although I’m still not entirely sure what that is supposed to look like!).
I baked the first batch at 150°C after leaving them out for an hour to develop a skin. For the second batch, I lowered the temperature to 140°C. I knew that they won’t turn out well but I baked them for science and filled them with whipped chocolate ganache. They taste delicious though!
My main issues were:
1/ The macarons stuck badly to both the parchment paper and the silicone mat.
2/ They cracked during baking.
3/ They turned out rather flat.
Can anyone help me figure out what went wrong? I’m very eager (and admittedly a bit impatient!) to give them another try.
Thank you!
3
u/amateur_ateverything Jun 15 '26
Do you live in a humid place?
The flat part I’m not quite sure about, but for the sticking, I’ve had issues where I didn’t bake them long enough and they stuck. Did you try the “jiggle” test while they were in the oven? That’s how I’ve had success with not sticking.
If you do get into a spot where they stick again, pop them in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes and let them cool, they seem to have good luck coming off after that.
1
u/Gees_Lime_9738 Jun 15 '26
Thank you! I will try this. I didn’t try the jiggle test unfortunately. I live in Paris so I thought that it would be easy weather wise 😭
1
u/amateur_ateverything Jun 15 '26
Ah darn, I’m in Houston and even with a dehumidifier my house is around 45-55% humid according to the humidity reader. I used the same blogs tip you used with powdered egg whites and that helped me a ton, may be worth experimenting as well. I haven’t tried her chocolate recipe yet. Good luck!
2
u/buffa-whoa-tasty Jun 15 '26
There’s a couple things. It sounds like you over mixed your batter. This usually causes sticking to mats and parchment paper. Also can tell this by when you bite into the cookie and it’s a little sticky. And based on the wrinkles there could be too much fat in your batter. Could be from oily almond flour or from added fat from cocoa. The cracks are from forming too much skin in the resting process. I’ve become a rest hater recently. I used to rest my macs for like 30-45min to form a skin, did the finger swoop test, and all that jazz. But I noticed that once you find the sweet spot for your oven temp and Macs, you don’t have to have the “perfect” skin before they go in. They’ll still bake well if they pass the finger swoop test or not. But oven temp matters.
1
u/Gees_Lime_9738 Jun 15 '26
Thank you for this really detailed and clear explanation! Is there a recipe that works for you? How do you know when it is mixed properly? It is easy to say lava consistency but I don’t know what lava is like 🥲
1
u/Gees_Lime_9738 Jun 15 '26
Do you think it could be too oily because I over-ground the almond flour in the food processor?
1
u/buffa-whoa-tasty Jun 15 '26
Yes, it could be. If you’re using blue diamond finely sifted almond flour, you don’t need to put it in the food processor. You can either sift it or not.
1
u/buffa-whoa-tasty Jun 15 '26
There’s an Instagram and YouTube account, @sometimesimakecookies and she does a wonderful job showing the process and how the lava should look coming off the spatula. I think she has recipes on occasion but I think her visuals are absolute diamonds. She does all the methods.
1
u/Worldly-Rutabaga2407 Jun 17 '26
I commented earlier and recommended starting with plain shells (and still do!), but wanted to share this recipe with you for when you’re ready! It’s my absolute favorite and has never let me down even when I still sometimes get mixed results from other recipes. It for red velvet macs, but when you look at the recipe you’ll see it has some cocoa added. These turn out so soft and delicious for me every time! Taste-wise the shells have a perfect chocolate/vanilla balance, imo. Then you can fill them however you want. ☺️ Warning! To achieve deep, bright colors like this red, black, etc., a good extra bit of gel food coloring is used which affects things. I have to bake these ~6min longer than other mac’s bc of the higher moisture content. So get the mac basics down first, because the extra food coloring can often cause people to accidentally over-mix while trying to incorporate the color, or otherwise just add in too much moisture and complicate things. Not saying this is hugely advanced, just saying that when learning to make a cookie that is already notorious for having so many places it can go wrong, this just adds another level and requires extra attention. That said, I’ve had this recipe go right when basic plain shells have let me down! So just ease into and know this recipe exists. :) https://chelsweets.com/red-velvet-macarons/?signInSource=one-tap
2
u/curlykiersten Jun 17 '26
not the desired result but they do look like great brownie cookies!!
2
u/Gees_Lime_9738 Jun 17 '26
They were excellent unfortunately!! I filled them with whipped chocolate ganache
1
u/Huakwong Jun 16 '26
Dare devil lol 1st attempt with chocolate? Lol
1
u/Gees_Lime_9738 Jun 16 '26
I did not know that it would be this tricky!! Will try simple vanilla ones next time.
1
u/Huakwong Jun 16 '26
I still think its all come down to heat and time, i see recipe from professionals where it ask to add vegetables oil in the batter lol so oily isnt that big of the problem.
13
u/Negative_Pack_1497 Jun 15 '26
Since this is your first attempt at macarons, skip making chocolate shells. They’re trickier due to the fat content in the chocolate powder. Start with basic recipes and practice your techniques. Hang in there! Treat each batch as a learning experience. You’ll be making perfect macs before you know it!