I’m tying to find a some what fool proof recipe my 5 yr old autistic son is obsessed with macrons and tired of buying them when he only likes the pistachio and vanilla ones

- Shells are full!! - knowing that I’m at higher elevation, I bake at 315f instead of 320 - I try to achieve *just* before stiff peaks, is it too stiff, should I do more firm instead of stiff? - Am I over-folding the macronage stage?

Lately, I’ve noticed that many macaron bakers focus almost entirely on hollows—and I used to be one of them. Recently, my perspective has changed. For me, the most important things about macarons are aesthetics and taste. If I get a signature macaron that: looks beautiful with nice feet has a crisp shell and a chewy interior then that is a real success. The obsession with hollows has overwhelmed the community, so I’d like to share a few points I’ve discovered through trial and error—points I rarely see discussed: 1. Batter load in the oven I noticed that when I bake only ¼ of a tray, I get no hollows. This showed me that batter load matters, at least in my oven (conventional, top & bottom heat). Of course, this may not apply to all ovens—some bakers get no hollows even with a full tray. 2. Longer bake at slightly lower temperature This often reduces hollows, but it also leads to harder shells. That said, they usually soften within 24–48 hours, depending on how hard they are initially. 3. Oven door management Door slightly open for the first 2–3 minutes Then, after there’s no wiggle, oven off, door slightly open for about 2 minutes at the end My wish for everyone is to create true signature macarons: beautiful, crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside. If there’s a small gap inside, it really doesn’t matter—no one will notice unless they’re a Michelin-level inspector.😃 Happy baking 🍪✨

So I followed the recipe by @Crystal Arvelo to a t besides adding cocoa powder. My shells came out a little flatter and still were a little hollow so not sure what I did wrong. I didn’t notice that my batter was a little more runny but not to bad. I think I hit a snag when it came down to adding the sugar to the egg whites. When I did the sugar and the water mixture was confident that I did it right I’m not sure if it was supposed to be full dissolved cause when it reached 118 degrees it wasn’t boiling for me. I also used bottle water am I supposed to use tap water? They are a little hard so I know I either need to cook them less or turn down the temp.

I’m doing everything what can I be missing!? 🤔