Macaron Recipe Troubleshooting FAQ Cracked, Flat, Lumpy,
1. Macaron Cracked
Try rapping the trays on the bench harder or more times before cooking.
2. Macarons Flat or Lumpy
See the pictures below which show the results of under-mixed and over-mixed macaroon mixture.
| undermixed | good | overmixed |
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2. Hollow macarons
Macarons should not be hollow. This is most often caused by the oven being opened before they are cooked through or the macarons being taken out of the oven too early. The under-cooked middle drops to the base.
More questions see the video below:
The video answers the following frequently asked questions:
0:15 Can I have the recipe? …yes… macaron recipe
0:31 Do macarons taste better if you fill them and leave them overnight?
0:58 Do you have a nut free recipe? … yes… nut free macarons
1:38 Can I have the chocolate ganache recipe? …yes… plain ganache, ginger ganache, orange ganache
1:59 Is greaseproof paper the same as non-stick baking paper?
2:18 Do you have a chocolate macaron recipe? …yes… chocolate macaron recipe
2:26 My macarons have a skirt rather than a foot, why?
2:45 What does rapped on the bench mean?
2:54 Can I use liquid colour for macaroons?
3:13 My macarons turned out lumpy, why?
3:50 I can’t get caster sugar can I use powdered sugar for the whole recipe?
4:12 Can I use icing mixture or does it have to be pure icing sugar?
4:18 How do I flavour the macaron recipe?
4:36 Do I have to leave them on the bench before I bake them?
4:56 What is almond meal?
5:04 I don’t have a piping bag 🙁 what can I use?
5:21 I need to make 100 of these perfectly HELP! (how to tell if you have folded enough times)
5:52 Can I put two trays in the oven at once?
6:14 Does your recipe use customary or imperial units?
6:29 Can I use less sugar?
6:36 My egg whites won’t whip, why?
7:00 Can I use wheat flour?
7:03 Do I have to use a stand mixer?
7:10 Can you replace the egg whites with something else?
More macaron recipes for you:
easy macaron recipe
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Macaron trouble-shooting & FAQ
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nut free macarons
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orange choc macarons
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 macaron ice cream sandwich |
SEE ALL RECIPES |
chocolate macarons
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fun with macarons
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Salted Caramel Macarons
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Hi Ann,
i’ve look at your video countless tine. But my shell have a lot of bubble. Its nt smooth. Pls help
Hello Ann,
I have watched your video till the end but haven’t seen this question, so I’m going to ask: if you over mixed your batter and it turned out watery, is there a way to fix it? I know you can fix an under mixed batter by mixing more but not sure what we can do with this problem.
Thank you very much for your detailed instructions. I really like your blog and appreciated your time and effort in putting together such the valuable recipes.
Hi Kathy, no unforunately you can’t bring it back to life as macarons, but do not despair bake it in a brownie tin and use as a yummy base for a dessert.
Hi Ann,
I tried adding a little green tea powder and they turned out with only a side of foot.
What’s the problem? Thanks
hi janice, if the green tea powder made them not work then you could try adding the flavour to the filling rather than the shells
Hi Ann,
I love ur macaroons recipes and ur easy video alot .may I put lesser sugar or icy sugar ? .I find that quite sweet .and I noticed that you didn’t let the macaroons to rest before you bake .??? How to bake the first round then second round when I baked the colour turn out was different than the first one 🙁 . Your help will appreciate .Thanks
Hi Ann,
I love ur macaroons recipes and ur easy video alot .may I put lesser sugar or icy sugar ? .I find that quite sweet .and I noticed that you didn’t let the macaroons to rest before you bake .??? How to bake the first round then second round when I baked the colour turn out was different than the first one 🙁 .
Hi Ann, I wonder if you’d be able to tell what’s wrong with my macarons?
I did the experiment as you had suggested because i haven’t been able to figure out what’s wrong… First 4 cookies were (what I felt was) under mixed. Next few folded a few more times. And the last section folded until I felt it was right.
(The first time I made macarons, the mixture was so water-y, they fell out of the piping bag instead of me piping the macarons, so I really didn’t want to get to that stage this time.)
I also took a few videos and photos and pieced them together, hoping that someone could shed some light on whether it’s the texture of the macronage that is wrong, or if it’s my oven, or any possible reasons I haven’t thought of.. (Video link: http://youtu.be/9Jhk0EyarIY)
Your help would be much appreciated! I’ve been making macarons 3 days in a row and I’m at a loss at what’s wrong. Thanks!!
hi cheryl your folding looks good so it is either the ingredients of the oven temp that are not correct. You are using fresh egg whites not egg whites from a carton aren’t you?
hello, i tried to make macarons, please one question, i have to use fresh egg whites for this récipe ? helpmeee
Hi, did the video get removed? I don’t see it anywhere on the page…
Hi choua, try refreshing the page it should be fixed now, the website has been updated this week and lots of the video codings had to be updated so they would still show up properly.
This site is amazing! I’ve just found you and WOW! I love it! Great job and thanks so much for all of the great advice and tips! I really appreciate it!
You are fabulous darling!!
Cheers!
Thanks Melissa
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Macaron Recipe Troubleshooting FAQ Cracked.
Regards
hi Ann,
My macaron feet always spread out to the side like skirt. I have seen your video that i should lower the temperature , i bake at lower temperature 135C. The feet still spread out to the side.
I tried many many like let the door open with a wooden spoon etc.
I bake in a fan oven.
Please help me ann.
I found if you bake them above your fan and preheat the oven at 150 degrees so its quiet hot when you put your macarons in
I notice you don’t leave them to rest before baking at all.. how come?
Hi Ann,
I’ve been a big fan of your site for a long time, and have had my eye on your macaron recipe for months. I only just got the chance to try it yesterday, and my macarons turned out incredibly messed up. The first batch was entirely flat, like wafers. I thought this was probably a combination of too little almond flour (the sieve I used was way too fine and got rid of a huge amount of almond meal), and overmixing. For the next batch, I was more careful. I beat the egg whites for longer (though I couldn’t get them as stiff and dry as yours) and made sure to use the right amount of flour. I paid a lot of attention to folding the mixture, doing around 40 folds, and it still looked a little runnier than your mixture in your Easy Macarons video. I wrapped on the bench multiple times from multiple angles. This attempt was completely hollow and brittle, and varying degrees of cracked, depending on how intensely I wrapped and popped air bubbles with a toothpick. They also have no feet. What can I do to achieve the proper macaron texture, and feet? What am I doing wrong?
Thank you so much!
Olivia
Hi Olivia,
Attempt 1 yes over mixed and incorrect ingredient proportions will effect the end result. Attempt 2 looking much better than the first. You only need to fold until you get the correct consistency rely on what it looks like not the count as everyone folds a little differently. Hollow can be from a drop in oven temp – taking out too soon, or opening the oven often to check on them.
I followed every step but my macarons turned out cracked! What did I do wrong? I tried it numerous times, sometimes i get perfect ones w/ feet, but most of the times, I get these cracked or flat ones… how can i make them perfect???
Hi Adet, they look interesting, try without any colouring and see if that is the cause of you issues.
Actually you can replace the egg whites, there are a few companies actually selling vegan macarons nationwide.
Hi Ann, how can i know that my macaroon mixture is ready to be piping?
Hi Ann what is that red macaroon filling at 0.08 secs on the video, it looked really good.
raspberry & white chocolate ganache, see the chocolate truffles recipe posts for ganache recipes.
Hi Ann
Do you know why my macaron feet spread?
Also the shell his very thin/ the center is somewhat hollow.
Thanks
good question, a skirt is usually the oven temp being too low, but i have never seen such a big spread like this.
My macrons turned out terrible! I tried the nut free recipe and they look atrocious! :(((( I followed the recipe and rapped them on the bench and had my oven at 320F and I used pulse grated sugar in place of caster sugar. Like regular sugar that has been pulse chopped..and I baked them on the top rack for 15, and 5 for the final on the bottom rack. What did I do wrong?? I even gently folded the egg whites and sugar… Yes it was a bit lumpy but that’s what it seemed to be in the “good” picture of the mixture.. Plz help 🙁
As you’ll see in the troubleshooting video photos changing the type of sugar does effect the end result.
Thank you for the great tips! It seems I may be under mixing… And I admit that I’m often tempted to open the oven to check on the cooking process.
Hiya,
My macaroon turned out looking fine but hollow in middle. I have no experience with piping bag so accidentally made bigger in size (5cm in diameter). So the baking time was longer.
Looks alright but when eating it, it is hard and hollow in middle.
What may be the issue?
Thanks.
Dee Dee
Hi Dee Dee, nice looking macaron, try beating for less time. And make sure the oven is not opened during baking. Otherwise the uncooked filling can drop to the bottom.
Hi Ann,
I have the same hollow problem everytime 🙁
Do you mean beating the egg white less?
Thanks.
Hey, I was complaining to a friend of mine who is a chef, about my perfect looking macarons yet slightly hollow shells and his answer was: macarons are supposed to be hollow.
Hi I am from CA. I tried your recipe using the scale.
For some reason my macarons were cracked.
I tapped the tray many times — top smooth and fold the mixture the right way (I guess).
I preheat my oven to 302 F.
What might be the problem? Thanks