I’ve been in a baking mood lately and with Christmas just a couple days away I decided to bake cookies to bring home to my family in Virginia. Last night I made homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies that somehow turned into what may as well have been a gigantic cookie cake. (All of the curse words!) But tonight I set out to make Coconut Macaroons as I’ve been eating more gluten-free foods lately and also just know that they are straight up delicious. I used to HATE coconut when I was a child and my mother LOVED it. Whenever I had the chance, I turned down anything made with it but now I’m a grown-up (heh) and my tastebuds have matured. So if you think you hate coconut because you did when you were young, there’s a good chance that you may actually enjoy it now. For those who don’t mind these chewy, coconut-y treats, this is a delicious and incredibly easy recipe.
Ingredients:
14oz bag of sweetened shredded coconut
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate (optional)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl combine the coconut and condensed milk. (Use a sturdy wooden spoon for this. I tried using a rubber spatula and it broke!)
In a medium bowl combine the egg whites and salt. Beat this mixture with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. (About 3 minutes)
Once the egg whites have stiffened, fold them gently into the coconut and condensed milk mixture using a rubber spatula.
To create the macaroons, use two spoons to create heaping mounds and place them on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. (I used aluminum foil here because I did not have parchment paper. I sprayed the foil with cooking spray which helped to pry the macaroons off the foil. In hindsight, parchment paper would have been much easier.)
Place the macaroons about one inch apart on the cookie sheets. Once the macaroons are placed on the sheets, use your fingers to squish the macaroons so that there is no errant coconut pieces coming off of the macaroons. Any coconut pieces that stray from each mound will undoubtedly burn.
Place the cookie sheets on the middle racks of your oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes until each macaroon is golden brown on the top and a darker brown on the bottom.
Let the macaroons cool once taken out of the oven.
OPTIONAL: Once cooled, dip the bottom of each macaroon into melted chocolate to create Chocolate Coconut Macaroons! To melt the chocolate, place the chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl or ramekin and heat in 30-second intervals until completely melted. Stir the chocolate in between melting intervals. Once the chocolate is melted, dip the macaroons in the chocolate, bottom side down.
Place the dipped macaroons back onto the cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Then place the cookie sheets in the fridge to cool and harden. Once the chocolate on the macaroons has hardened (about 20 minutes) they’re ready to be boxed up or eaten!
This is a great recipe for those who want to cut a bit of flour out of their diet as well as those who want an easy recipe that won’t take all night to bake. If you try it, let me know of your own tips or successes!