Vanilla Macarons FAIL!

Today's post is brought to by the letter F - for FAIL.  I attempted a task I have been putting off for months.  Macarons.  Delicate crunchy, chewy delightful little cookies.  I even bought a book about them.  I've wanted to make them and be this magnificent baker forever and I failed.  I'm not out for the count by any means, but I'm starting over from the beginning.  So here's round one.

I wanted to show you a picture like this:

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Instead I'm showing you this:

Too brown, uneven feet, cracks, general blob-ness.  *sigh*  

Before I get into talking about what happened, let's look at the anatomy of a macaron.

{source}

There were 3 batches that day, none of them went well.  I beat soft peaks.  

I mixed my almond meal, powdered sugar, and salt in a food processor before sifting.

I mixed. I am a little worried that I over mixed, but that will be determined with my next attempt.

My batter seemed wet compared to the pictures in my book, but I moved forward and smacked the crap out of my baking pan.  Round one.

I searched through the trouble shooting guide in my macaron book to figure out what was happening.  I did not expect the first batch to come out perfect.  I'm a realist.  Issue 1: "baseball cap" feet.

So I let the oven completely cool and then restarted at 200 degrees.  I turned my baking tray halfway through the second part of baking and put a baking sheet above the macarons to help keep them from browning.  Round two.

Less brown, weird feet (I couldn't find a troubleshooting section for the way these feet look), and they didn't really rise.  {Getting frustrated that I'll never get this right.}  Onto round three.  This time I kept and wooden spoon in the oven door so the macarons wouldn't brown as quickly.

So much for that idea.  These macarons were turned during 2/3 of the way through the 350 degree part of baking.  Better feet, but way...WAY too brown.  I gave up at this point.  I threw out the remaining batter.  I'm starting over with a new batch tomorrow and hoping for the best.

If you're good at making macarons I would LOVE to hear any tips or tricks you can offer me.  I'm using an Italian meringue method.  I fee like this post has every problem I did.  I'll be reading more.  

I will say one thing, thank god I didn't pop the $8.75 for vanilla bean just to have everything go south.  I highly recommend getting your technique and baking down before splurging on high end ingredients to kick things up.  Wish me luck.

For next Sunday, something I know well.  Cookies.  Regular old make me feel like I'm 5 again cookies.