Coconut Macaroons

Clearing my pantry : from the freezer, egg whites. Used some of the frozen egg whites for these lovely Coconut Macaroons. I love coconut in bakes and especially love it with chocolate! Just imagine the aroma of the coconut when these are baked in the oven, the whole house has that wonderful coconuty fragrance. 

These are super easy to make, the mixing takes only 5 minutes, the mixture is mixed by using your hands so that all the coconut, sugar, almond extract and egg whites are mixed evenly together. Instead of using an ice cream scoop to scoop the coconuts onto the tray, I just used my already dirty hand to "scoop" about a  little more than a tablespoon of coconut mixture and place on the baking tray, flatten it slightly and bake for about 15-20 minutes. I am lazy to wash the ice cream scoop, I really wish I have someone to do the washing up after every bake! Cool the macaroons and drizzle with melted chocolate over the top. 

The original recipe calls for the cooled macaroons to be dipped into melted chocolate, covering the macaroons halfway with the chocolate and leave the other side bare. The coated macaroons are then placed on the baking tray for the chocolate to set. The recipe states to use coating chocolate, I use semi-sweet chocolate, melt it over double boiler and drizzle over the macaroons instead. 

I made half a recipe and it makes 15 macaroons. The only changes I did was to reduce the sugar slightly. For half a recipe, the original amount of sugar is 1 cup, here I have used 2/3 cup minus 2 tablespoons. It is still slightly sweet, next time I'll just use 1/2 cup instead. 

These are so good, especially when eaten warm, when the bottom of the macaroons are crispy and the coconuts are chewy, moist and delicious with the drizzling of chocolate over the top.

Yum!  According to the author, this is very popular with her gluten-free customers. So if you are looking for a gluten-free snack, this is a delicious one!

I'm sharing this with :
Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage


Coconut Macaroons
(adapted from "Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook", Cheryl Day & Griffith Day)
8 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups sugar
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large whites)
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
2 cups coating chocolate

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment.
2. In a large mixing bowl, toss the coconut and sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the egg whites and almond extract and mix by hand until the coconut is completely moistened.
3. Use a small ice cream scoop to form the macaroons, about 1 rounded tablespoon each, and place on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 1 inch between the macaroons to allow for spreading. Slightly flatten each macaroon with the palm of your hand.
4. Bake the macaroons, one sheet at a time, for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool the macaroons completely on wire rack.
5. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with simmering water (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water), put the coating chocolate in the bowl, and melt it, stirring occasionally until smooth.
6. Dip the cooled macaroons into the coating chocolate, covering them halfway, and put the dipped macaroons back on the parchment-lined cookie sheets. Let the chocolate set. Store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature.

**kitchen flavour's notes :
~ for half a recipe, I reduced the sugar from original 1 cup to 2/3 cup minus 2 tablespoons. Next time I'll just use 1/2 cup as it is still a little on the sweet side for me.

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