So I’ve been working on perfecting macs for 4 months now and it just feels like I’m taking one step forward, two steps back.

My biggest consistent issues now are hollow, oval/clam shell shaped macs.

I’ve gone through so many different recipes and adjusted so much but I just can’t fix this. I KNOW it’s doable because 3 batches came out flawless once. But I haven’t been able to replicate and I don’t remember exactly what I did. I didn’t think about recording my progress today but I’ll write down my entire process to see if anyone an offer some suggestions on fixing these macs.

Today I did three more batches with variations to how much longer I beat the eggs and cream of tartar amount. They all pretty much came out the same so I’ll just pick my first process and see if you guys can dissect it to get me those perfectly round non hollow macs.

So my ingredients: 100g egg whites from a carton (I know it’s a sin but they work.) 100g extra fine sugar 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

125g powdered sugar 138g almond flour

• Egg whites go in the stand mixer, beating on 4 speed until a foam develops.
• Throw in tartar, let it rock a little more.
• One eggs are foamy like draft beer, put in extra fine sugar. [here I tried putting in all at one in one batch and slowly adding in another. The all in one dump came out with more round ones]
• Let eggs beat till soft peaks
• Add in one drop of gel food coloring.
• Turn up speed to 6, once I see that the color is saturated in the eggs and I hear a kind of flopping sound is with the mixer to 8.
• I take this time to step away to sift my almond flour and powdered sugar into a bowl.
• Go back to check on the eggs, when I see that there is no space within the whisk and the eggs are leaving long streaks I do the peaks test which normally is good. Hangs above my head without anything falling, peaks are staying straight up and not curling, sides of peaks are also thin.
• transfer eggs to a bowl, then slide in a third of the dry ingredients. Fold until I don’t see any dry ingredients left over. Add the last third, repeat. Make sure I scoop the bottom of the bowl and get all the dry ingredients. Press the batter against the bowl and fold some more.
• figure 8 test, batter flows, and then see it form back into the rest within 30 seconds.
• put batter into piping bag, pipe batter, tap sheet, poke air pockets, let dry.
• during this time, turn on oven, convection @ 275 degrees f.
• check for shells, batter is no longer glossy, has dull matted look, clean to the touch, no batter is on my fingers. Shape maintained
• shelf in oven is on the second to highest rung. Put in 1 tray for 19 minutes.
• very slight browning if any but macs are fully cooked… hollow. Most of the cookie is sitting on the bottom but it’s still chewy. Shell came out a little fragile this time.

Any suggestions welcomed.