I am defeated

Hello everyone.

I've been trying to make macarons for the past 2 weeks, but pretty much they all were a failure. They either come out cracked, wrinkly, or just completely flat with no feet.

Recipe:

1. I add 18 grams of almond flour and 18 grams of powdered sugar to the food processor and turn it on for a few seconds (I don't want to waste my almond flour since I'm still bad at it so I'm going with small amounts here).

2. I sift them couple of times into a bowl.

3. I start whisking (room temp) 18 grams of egg whites. I start with low speed first then increase the speed while gradually adding 18 grams of granulated sugar.

4. Once I almost reach stiff peaks, I add a tiny amount of powdered coloring and whisk it again until I reach stiff peaks.

5. I add the dry ingredients to the whisked egg whites and fold it until I can almost create a figure 8.

6. I add the batter into a piping bag then pipe it into a silicone mat.

7. I tap the tray on my kitchen counter a few times then pop the air bubbles with a toothpick.

8. Since I live in a humid environment, leaving them resting on the kitchen counter just doesn't work, so I dry them by placing them in the oven at very low heat (70 celsius) for around 20 minutes with the door slightly open until they dry.

9. Once they formed a skin and I can brush my finger on them without causing a dent, I take out the tray from the oven, raise the temp to 140 celsius, and once it reaches that temp, I place the tray inside it again and bake them for around 15 minutes.

Things I tried:

• Different oven temps: 120, 130, 135, 140, 150, 160.

• Instead of taking out the tray from the oven after they dry, I just close the oven door and raise the temp to 140 after they form a skin.

• I run my oven with the top and bottom heat with the fan on, but I also tried only running the bottom heat and the fan on.

• Leaving them in the oven to dry for 20 minutes, 30, 40 ,50… I think I also had them for one and a half hours one time lol.

• Whisking the egg whites until soft peaks, medium peaks, and stiff peaks.

• Folding the batter a little less than I usually do, and a little more.

• Parchment paper instead of silicone mat.

• Added the food coloring just I started whisking the eggs, instead of near the end.

• No food coloring.

• Sifting the dry ingredients without using the food processor.

• Used a tray with a lighter color instead of a dark one.

I think there's more stuff I tried but can't remember now.

One thing I've noticed is that they crack pretty quickly once I put them in the oven. Like it takes maybe 2 minutes or less until they start cracking.

Anyone got any idea what I'm doing wrong here? I seriously need the help lol.

Thanks in advance! 🙂