5 Common Problems When Making French Macarons - Sous Chef

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French macarons are notoriously difficult to make, yet once mastered it's easy to look back and understand the reasons why they didn't work. With this in mind we've put together a list of five common problems when making French macarons and solutions to ensure success the next time round.

We've developed these tips for making French macarons using the Italian meringue method. We find the 'Italian method' more reliable - it is where you heat sugar into a syrup before whisking into the egg whites, forming a more stable meringue. However, the tips are still applicable to most other methods of making macarons.

Some of the key issues when making macarons are as follows - and we'll run through them one by one. 

1. Nipples when piped
2. Cracked surface
3. Missing feet
4. Bumpy surface or look blotchy

1) Why do my macarons have nipples when piped?

The mixture hasn't spread properly when piped onto the baking tray. Tapping the baking tray a few times on a surface covered with a tea towel will help them to spread and lessen the nipples.

The deeper problem, however is that the macaron batter is likely to have been under-mixed. Use a spatula to mix the batter, firmly mixing the dry ingredients together with the wet ones - the consistency is right when the mixture begins to look glossy around the edges. Test the mixture by prodding it with the end of the spatula, the batter should sink back into place after about 20 seconds.

This can also happen when the mixture is too dry. See (5) below for our tips on amount of water to add to the macaron mixture.

2) Why have my macarons cracked?

The piped macarons weren't dried out for long enough before being baked. The drying out process allows a skin to form on the top of the macarons which prevents the expanding air from escaping. If the skin isn't thick enough the expanding air will burst through it, causing the macarons to be cracked.

In our tried and tested macaron recipe we dried the macarons out overnight, for approximately 8-9 hours before baking. To speed things up we also found that macarons can be dried out for 20 minutes in a dehydrator on the lowest setting.

3) Why don't my macarons don't have feet?

This usually happens when the mixture has been overmixed. Many bakers recommend a certain number of folds to achieve the perfect results but this hinges on many variable factors so it's better to learn what the mixture should look like when it's ready - it will start to turn glossy around the edges and will fall back into place when prodded after 20 seconds.

Another cause for feetlessness may be underbeating the egg whites for the Italian meringue - they should just have reached the soft peak stage when you pour the hot syrup over them. Start beating the egg whites on full speed once the sugar syrup reaches 117°C, and by the time it reaches 121°C the egg whites should be sufficiently beaten.

If your macarons have very small 'flat' feet, it is because they have not been baked long enough. When you think the macarons are cooked, touch the edge of the feet. If they feel very delicate and sticky then bake for a little longer.

These macarons were taken out of the oven too soon, as they have sunk back down into their 'foot' when cooling.

4) Why do my macarons have a bumpy surface or look blotchy?

Shop bought ground almonds contain fragments which need to be either sieved out of the mixture or ground more finely in a food processor. We recommend mixing together the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and whizzing for a few seconds (10-15 seconds) - any more than this and the oils from the almond will start to be released and cause the macarons shells to look 'blotchy'.  Remove from the food processor and pass through a fine sieve, discarding any larger fragments that won't pass through.

You can see that the macarons in the bottom right have a slightly blotchy or 'oily' surface. The oil from the almonds has started to leach out, caused by over grinding the almonds or by over-mixing the macaron mixture.

5) Why aren't my macarons perfectly round?

This is often caused by irregular piping - try holding the piping bag perpendicular to the baking tray and draw evenly spaced circles on the underside of the parchment paper to guide you. Some recipes call for adding liquid food colour or powdered food colour dissolved in water - sometimes the mixture may spread unevenly even when piped correctly if it contains too much water. We recommend using no more than 1 tbsp of liquid per 200g of almond/icing sugar mixture.

You can see the macarons have lifted in the oven and then landed to one side of their "feet". This can happen when the piping bag is not held perpendicular to the baking sheet.

 

 

Now you know how to avoid the common problems when making macarons, try this step-by-step guide to making raspberry macarons. Feeling inspired? Explore our large range of patisserie and baking products and find something exciting to bake with.

About the author

Nicola is co-founder and CEO at Sous Chef. She has worked in food for over ten years.

Nicola first explored cooking as a career when training at Leiths, before spending the next decade in Finance. However... after a stage as a chef at a London Michelin-starred restaurant, Nicola saw the incredible ingredients available only to chefs. And wanted access to them herself. So Sous Chef was born.

Today, Nicola is ingredients buyer and a recipe writer at Sous Chef. She frequently travels internationally to food fairs, and to meet producers. Her cookbook library is vast, and her knowledge of the storecupboard is unrivalled. She tastes thousands of ingredients every year, to select only the best to stock at Sous Chef.

Nicola shares her knowledge of ingredients and writes recipes to showcase those products. Learning from Sous Chef's suppliers and her travels, Nicola writes many of the recipes on the Sous Chef website. Nicola's recipes are big on flavour, where the ingredients truly shine (although that's from someone who cooks for hours each day - so they're rarely tray-bakes!).

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• Hi Imani, In order to get feet on your Macarons, you need to let them rest 30-60min after piping. They should be dry to the touch. The feet are created by air escaping, so the top need to be dry to ensure the air will only escape from the botton/sides = feet on your macarons. The cracks on the top is the air escaping. Hope this helps! Isobel

  Isobel at Sous Chef on September 03, 2021

• I have tasted these pretty cookies a few times and was I love but the price of one cookie in Georgia made me die so I chose to make them lol they tasted like the same cookie had the slight crunch but they did not have feet after being baked and they cracked at the top smh what did I do wrong I mixed dry ingredients untile I could make a figure 8 in the batter n stopped 🤷💁🤦

  Imani Hightower on August 25, 2021

• My Macarons cracked after drying for an hour

  Swati Dhameja on March 01, 2021

• I use the smallest melon baller I could find to scoop the batter onto the parchment paper and it works. You get perfectly sized Macarons without the fuss of piping.

  Alice on June 19, 2019

• Dehydrators are brilliant when you’re making catering-size batches of macarons – or shop loads, as you say! :-)

  nicola on August 07, 2018

• With that list of requirements it would be cheaper to BUY a shopload of macarons.

  Annie on August 07, 2018

• They are such a treat when you master them – and so much opportunity for dreaming up exciting flavours. Bonne chance!

  nicola on August 07, 2018

• Having travelled to France on many occasion during the past twenty years, it will be nice to perfect the art of macaron baking, wish me luck????

  John on August 07, 2018

• Assuming you are already using the titanium dioxide, then the beige tinge on macaron shells is indeed a thorny problem. If you have it with just these macarons but no others, I am not sure what to suggest. Perhaps give us a call in the office to talk through. However if it is with all macarons…

  I had it frequently with a previous oven, and people I asked about it never knew what I meant, and had no advice – it seemed oven specific. First try turning off fan. Then a combination of a slightly higher oven temperature and propping the door ajar throughout cooking to let steam escape / increase air flow (maybe using a tea towel) and playing around with cooking times helped. Eventually I achieved some consistency, but sadly it’s something you probably have to experiment with. Yet, with different ovens, I haven’t had the same issue.

  Does anyone else have any tips?

  nicola on August 07, 2018

• Hi, I’m making your salted caramel macaron recipe and having problems getting the shells to stay white. I’ve dropped the temp to 140c and put in the correct amount of colour but still they are tingled golden. can you please give me some advice?

  Kirsten on August 07, 2018

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