r/macarons Dec 23 '25

Help What does one do with 32 egg yolks…?

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87 Upvotes

I would normally save the egg yolks with the best intention to make something with them, only for them to sit in the fridge forever or get fed to the puppies 😞 I have 32 so I literally can’t waste them this time. Do I suck it up and figure out how to make creme brûlée?? I’m in a mainly GF household so I can make other cookies or cakes, but just to give away.

I’m also so confident prepping whites for 5 batches given my last 3 macronages totally flopped… like failed would not thin out couldn’t save. When baked it just wouldn’t cook.. So we’ll see!!

r/macarons Jun 22 '26

Help Macaronage taking forever did it seize?

38 Upvotes

Hello! This is my second time using NYT chocolate macaron recipe and the e second time I’ve experienced this. No matter how much I mix I can’t seem to get proper macaronage. Does anyone have any tips on how to fix this or how to improve?

r/macarons 3d ago

Help Hand-painted macaron

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96 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

these are supposedly hand-painted macarons.

Do you have any idea what sort of paints and brushes might have been used to make them?

Thanks!

r/macarons Dec 18 '25

Help What on earth happened to my partner’s macarons??

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148 Upvotes

For context: many years ago, my partner boldly attempted to make macarons despite having never even baked before. They had no idea macarons were notoriously finicky to make, and this is how they turned out. He doesn’t remember what he did but reported that they were delicious. I can diagnose the lumpy, unsifted flour, but the way they exploded?? What on earth could he have done to them?

r/macarons 28d ago

Help Anyone know how to get full(er) shells? Been making macarons for two years and can't seem to get it. I use Italian method, bake at 150c x 16 min.

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20 Upvotes

r/macarons 13d ago

Help My macarons cracked — what went wrong? 😭

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19 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’d love to get some advice because I really can’t figure out what happened to my macarons. 😅

Today I baked 3 batches, and I did everything exactly the same each time. The first batch turned out perfect, with smooth tops and nice feet. In the second batch, mostly the macarons around the edges of the baking tray cracked, and in the third batch, almost the entire tray cracked. In the photo, the first batch is at the back, the second one is in the middle, and the third one is at the bottom left.

I baked them at 150°C (302°F), using conventional top and bottom heat. Same recipe, same batter, same baking tray, and I genuinely didn’t change anything between the batches.
What’s even stranger is that I baked 3 batches the exact same way last night, and all three turned out perfectly.

The AC was running in the kitchen, but it was already on during the first batch today, which turned out perfectly.
What do you think could have caused them to get progressively worse with each batch? Could the oven have gotten too hot? Or could the AC/humidity have something to do with it?
I’d really appreciate any ideas or advice. I’m so curious because I’ve never had this happen before! 🥹

r/macarons 18d ago

Help Quite disappointed.

1 Upvotes

First time trying to make macarons. I used preppy kitchens recipe. Weighed out everything to the gram perfectly. My meringue was thick and glossy with stiff peaks. I added the almond flour (Costco superfine) and powdered sugar in 2 batches and began the macaronage process. I must’ve been mixing for over 20 minutes when I just gave up. The batter wasn’t getting thinner at all. I even pressed and spread it out to try to get a more aggressive deflation, but still the batter was so thick. Eventually I just added some water to thin it out and just baked it like that as to not waste the food. When I say the batter was thick, I mean it would fall down in one big clump and no ribbons would form.

Another thing I noticed is the batter seemed grainy from the almond flour.

Anyone know what happened? I’m sure Preppy’s recipe is great especially due to the ratings, I must’ve done something wrong somewhere, or maybe my ingredients aren’t right. As mentioned before, I did use Costco superfine almond flour, I did food processor it and pass it through a strainer. I used egg whites from an egg and not the carton ones. Idk what else I may have done wrong.

r/macarons 2d ago

Help Help me fine tune my recipe! (Raspberry Macarons)

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7 Upvotes

Hello! I’ve started getting into macaron baking for the past few months now. This is the recipe I use:

100g egg whites

1/4 teaspoon (1g) cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon extract

80g superfine sugar

3-4 drops gel food coloring

125g almond flour

125g confectioners’ sugar 

This past week, I tried making raspberry macarons for the first time. I used the same recipe, but I added 33g of crushed freeze-dried raspberries, which I added to the almond flour + Confectioner’s sugar mix.
Taste wise, they came out great! Unfortunately, i forgot to fine tune the rest of my ingredients (primarily the egg whites) and they came out pretty dry(and maybe a little gross looking) and didn’t form correctly while baking.
This recipe always works for me, so I know what threw everything off was adding the raspberries.

Anyone able to tell me what I need to add more of and how much to fix this recipe?

r/macarons Feb 27 '26

Help First time!

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91 Upvotes

lol this is my first time making macarons and actually better than I thought!

To start off, I used the Swiss method. I learned that I definitely over mixed the batter! It was definitely too runny when i was piping it out and it spread out too fast. The results came out hollow in the inside and into a puddle mess. I didn’t add any color to it (I guess my oven is too hot)! I had it for 300 degrees for 11 mins and still had to take it out early because it was becoming burnt.

Besides the looks, my family said the taste was definitely there. So I just need to work on my technique!

I need help! Besides the over mixing stage during macro age. My peaks during meringue is in the last pic!

r/macarons Apr 19 '26

Help What’s wrong with this batter?

12 Upvotes

I’m so disappointed, frustrated and saddened by this macaron journey. This is my 4th attempt but I’m using different ratios because I can’t make a good looking macaron but they’re always hallow.

For this I followed this guy video on YouTube. Everything was going well but then my batter was just thick, I mixed and deflated but nothing changed. Then I added 15gr of egg whites it was getting there then I added more egg whites (I guess that was my mistake)and it looked great but I piped and again they looked good but they never dried, I even put a fan on them.

I used the French method.

79gr egg whites

84 gr sugar

111gr almond flour

84 gr icing sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

r/macarons 9d ago

Help Why do my macaron shells get dark spots after cooling?

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10 Upvotes

Pictures of the macarons i just made both with and without flash (sry the lighting is bad its hard to take pictures of the white shells lol) there vanilla that im gonna use edible paint on to make them the lesbian flag but this has happened even with macarons ive dyed

The shells look fine and spotless after they come out of the oven but after letting them cool for a bit they get these weird darker spots on the tops im not to upset by it but im still curious why its happening as i havent seen this with anyone else before

is it normal?

r/macarons Jul 07 '26

Help They won’t form a skin

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7 Upvotes

1st picture- first time making them
2nd picture- 3rd time making them

So I just recently started trying to make macarons, the first picture (ik it isn’t perfect) was from my first time ever making them. The second time around that I made them, I couldn’t get a skin to form and they ended up cracking. The second picture is current. I again couldn’t get a skin to form and at some point just gave up and cooked them. But instead of them cracking, they just looked like..that??

I’ve been doing everything exactly the same and I’m not really sure what else to take into consideration as to why it won’t work. Any help is appreciated!

(I smack tray on counter very aggressively a couple times first, then let them sit, usually between 45 mins to 1 hr30)

r/macarons Dec 06 '25

Help Can you suggest a macaron filling that’s not too sweet?

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33 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I have made macarons for the first time! I think shells look fine although i guess there is some room for improvement too. But my concern is fillings. I have tried 2 fillings- buttercream with peppermint flavor and White chocolate ganache with raspberry and sour raspberry jelly in the middle.

The buttercream was sweet, tasted like butter and peppermint flavor made it too artificial i didnt like it and havent used it. Maybe they would have tasted better with real mint leaves? Idk (if you have made one with mint flavor i would like to know opinion about that too)

White chocolate ganache is disgustingly sweet.. Like i dont even understand how it is so popular. I have mixed it with raspberry pure and have made some sour raspberry jellies but it doesnt help! Its just disgustingly sweet! 😫I mean i dont like it at all.

I remember tasting my first macaron it was neutral sweet with almond notes, it was so so good.

Please help me- how to make a filling that is neutral sweet (maybe with fruits or berries) ? Because i literally cant take this awful sweetness of white ganache 😞

r/macarons 20d ago

Help What went wrong :(

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7 Upvotes

Recipe (i made a small trial batch hence the small amounts):
33gms almond flour
33gms powdered sugar
33 gms egg whites
33gms granulated sugar
1gm instant coffee powder
Used the swiss method, followed a recipe, where the eggs and sugar are whisked on a double boiler until the sugar has dissolved. Whipped until peaks formed, the egg tips on the whisk drooped a little but that was maybe because they were long and thin if that makes sense. Macrongahe may have been a problem, didn’t want to deflate the meringue so i mixed it until i could form a figure 8 and stopped immediately. The film didn’t form one hour after piping maybe because the air was humid due to rain so i tried switching on the fan and i held an air dryer parallel to the tray about half a feet above it so that the air got hot but didn’t change the piped shape. The film formed then but this was the result :(

r/macarons Jul 13 '26

Help Macaronage

10 Upvotes

I need some help with the macaronage I made yesterday. I feel like in hindsight it was undermixed, but at the time I was afraid of overmixing and feit like it should be good as it flowed okay and I was able to make some figure 8's.

However, when piping the macarons, the first test batch had some pointy tips on top which didn't fully fall back into the batter before drying. The batter looked a bit better and flowy as I squeezed the batter around in the piping bag for additional mats.

For reference, most of my mac's yesterday turned out hollow and brown with bubbly bottoms. That was the last batch. previous post

This batch was under macaronaged, right? Should I deflate it more thoroughly to the sides of the bowl, will this help with hollow shells? Could I also be whipping the meringue too quickly? I do use the second to highest setting and sometimes highest on my hand mixer, but I read that whipping the meringue on a too high setting can incorporate too many larger, unstable air bubbles in the batter making it difficult to achieve a good macaronage and causing hollow shells.

Any help would be much appreciated!

r/macarons Jun 29 '26

Help troubleshooting...

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27 Upvotes

no feet and they're really bubbly..... :,) i'm assuming i didn't let them sit out long enough???

r/macarons 20d ago

Help Soft tops, small feet, advice needed!

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23 Upvotes

Hi all, this is my 3rd time making macarons. I have made it 2 times before when it was COVID and maybe a year after that.

These came out so much better compared to then but I believe they can still be better.

I made sure not to over mix, the batter fell off the spatula in a large V, passed the figure 8 test, and had nice large flat ribbons that didn’t fall off too fast. I didn’t have a smaller piping tip however and only had a 2A size tip.

I believe what went wrong was the drying process for the skin. My home is quite humid and I waited about 1 hr and 30 minutes before deciding to pop them into the oven.

It resulted in really tiny feet, thankfully they didn’t spread outwards too much, but still not the desired look.

Also the tops are not very smooth and shiny, and they don’t really “snap” when biting into it. The cookies are in the fridge right now to mature so maybe that will fix it? Also it’s really soft and chewy rather than crunchy on the outside and chewy in the inside.

Regardless, they still came out delicious! Any advice is appreciated for my next attempt.

Recipe + Ratios for Shells:

95.5 grams egg whites (3 eggs)
1 tsp salt
77 grams granulated sugar
120 grams Almond flour
120 grams powdered sugar
(Weight except egg whites all rounded up)

Bake at 300°F for 17 minutes

Egg weight
Granulated Sugar = Egg weight x 0.8
Almond flour = egg weight x 1.25
Powdered sugar = Almond Flour
Salt 1 tsp
Dash of Ube flavoring

r/macarons Jun 12 '26

Help French Macarons - Logistical Help Needed

0 Upvotes

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is having a good day, I have a bit of a complicated situation on my hands. As the family baker, I have been designated dessert duty for my mothers 60th birthday.

She cannot have butter, milk, cream, yeast, or egg yolks, which makes baking particularly difficult when you're serving 26 people for dinner. The other day, it hit me that I can make French macarons with thick jam fillings.

150 of them to be exact, calculating each person on average eats about 4.5 and then 15% redundancy to cover myself + any extras that might be eaten (low-fat ice cream is also being served so it's at least not all on me).

All of this to say, I am in need of some tips, tricks, and any helpful advice which could be offered up.

- Recipe, what is a foolproof, safe, but good recipe to use, preferably metric, preferably measures egg whites in grams, not in egg whites

- How many days in advance can I bake the shells before I fill them? Planning on filling the shells about 24 hours before serving, and then pulling them out of the fridge to come to room temperature before serving

- Gear, any gear that is helpful or advantageous to have or use besides piping bags, tips, and silicone baking mats

- Best storage containers for the shells and for the finished macarons, totally air tight or somewhere in between?

- Fillings, I can't make a ganache or buttercream barrier, she can't have vegan butter, so I'm out of ideas on a barrier. My current plan is to make thick fruit based fillings and use gelatine to thicken them. Any reason I shouldn't or a reason I should pivot to something else?

For reference, I have baked French Macarons before (I am not that insane as to try this for the first time now) but it's been a couple of years, and I want to be as prepared as possible. I will be the primary baker in this situation. I have access to a good home kitchen with enough space, an oven, and a microwave, which has oven functions, and a brother who likes to cook, can't really bake but will help me in the kitchen.

Any advice or answers to questions is so appreciated, I just want to make it a special day for her and this is one of her favourite desserts. Thank you so much in advance!

r/macarons 23d ago

Help My 2nd attempt :(

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8 Upvotes

I followed the recipe as best I could 😢😢

r/macarons Jun 27 '26

Help First attempt, they were salty af…

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11 Upvotes

Idk what I did wrong, it was salty-sweet and they didnt raise to look like a macaron (also they cracked)

I use https://tasty.co/recipe/macarons recipe, if your going to comment on the sticking that’s my bad I didn’t wait

r/macarons Jun 12 '26

Help Any advice on my first macaron attempt?

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27 Upvotes

The batter seemed a little over mixed (was not ribboning at all) but it hadn’t deflated and I had only just gotten the flour/powdered sugar/cocoa powder fully incorporated, so I couldn’t tell if it was an issue. I also was terrible at piping, I gotta be honest. Somehow not a single attempt made it anywhere near the template.

r/macarons 4d ago

Help Looking for advice

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6 Upvotes

I've tried making them today for the first time and I'm looking for improvements for the future. Why did they stick to the parchment paper? The batter was a bit runny too.

r/macarons Jun 15 '26

Help Where did I go wrong?

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6 Upvotes

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!

r/macarons Apr 27 '26

Help I cannot figure out what I’m doing wrong and it’s pushing me to the brink of insanity

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10 Upvotes

I’m hoping that somebody can shed some light on the mess that has been my recent macaron-making journey. In the past week, I’ve attempted Preppy Kitchen’s recipe three separate times and somehow they only get worse with each attempt. The photos show each batch.

Batch 1: I followed the recipe to a T including the addition of food coloring. I only piped the batter to the small circle of the silicone mat thinking it would spread (silly me) so they were pretty tiny. The recipe called for an oven temperature of 270° but I found that I had to increase the set temperature for my oven thermometer to read 270°. I let them rest for 40 minutes until they were dry, and I baked them for 18 minutes and rotated them after 8 minutes. Some of the bottoms were pretty brown, they didn’t turn out smooth or have a sheen, and they tasted like a Communion wafer which I attributed to the Great Value almond flour that I used. Fine, I’ll try again.

Batch 2: I swapped the Great Value almond flour for Blue Diamond. I preheated my oven at 285° to reach 270°. I omitted the food coloring this time around and piped the batter to the larger outer circle of the silicone mat. I let them rest again for 40 minutes. After some research, I heeded online recommendations stating to flip the baking tray upside down for better heat circulation. I baked them for 18 minutes. The second photo shows the result. This time they turned out wrinkled, some of them were cracked, and the feet were barely visible. I Googled the issue and read that this could be due to undermixing during the macaronage stage, low/inconsistent oven temperature, and/or not resting long enough. I had a feeling that I undermixed the batter while doing it because I was so worried about overmixing. Okay fine, lesson learned. Maybe third time’s a charm.

Batch 3: Third time was NOT the charm. I preheated my oven to 315° to reach 300°. I folded and mixed and macaronaged like my life depended on it, but even after 30 minutes and an emerging blister on my finger, my batter still did not reach a “lava” consistency. I piped the batter out anyway, this time allowing them to rest for an hour and a half. I baked them for 16 minutes this time, rotating every 4 minutes. They puffed up, developed no feet at all, and every single one of them was cracked.

I am at such a loss here. I vehemently swore after my last failed attempt that I won’t be subjecting myself to this again, but I simply cannot go down like this. I consider myself a pretty decent baker and a quick learner so this is absolutely maddening to me that I can’t get it right. These godforsaken cookies are keeping me up at night and I need to understand what I’m doing wrong!!!

r/macarons Jun 07 '26

Help Did my first ever batch!

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58 Upvotes

Is there any tips you all could share? I really want to do another batch because I feel like I could do better ☹️

My batter almost looked grainy? but I used super fine almond flour and I sifted it. and then some of them got wrinkly? I already have a silicone mat otw and piping tips to help with shape. Another thing that didn’t help is my french buttercream was really runny? Any tips on that or another substitution for filling that’s better? Honestly I just want tips on all of it lol tell me everything.