I pulled off something pretty sweet this holiday season. For the first time ever, I managed to cross everyone off of my gift list without ever stepping foot inside a mall. Food books of every sort arrived without fuss on my doorstep from Amazon.com, gorgeous artisanal chocolates and macarons were ordered from my friends at XT Patisserie, and home baked goods were churned out of my hard-working oven. I loved giving presents that were meaningful in some way and, most importantly, friggin’ tasty.
My mother received a batch of homemade coconut macaroons, her favorite cookie of all time. Compared to her two sugar-craving children, my mother’s sweet tooth is quite minimal. These macaroons are ultra-coconut-y and pleasingly chewy, with just the right amount of sweetness. I dipped a few of the macaroons in chocolate for a little extra pizazz. Best of all, I delivered the cookies in a Tupperware container that she had given me months ago. I don’t know about your mama, but mine loves receiving her precious Tupperwares back. Two gifts in one—that’s the way I roll.
- 5 cups (20 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
- 6 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pulse the coconut in a food processor until fine, 1 to 4 pulses. [Some brands of coconut are finely shredded, pulse it just once or twice.] Process the egg whites, sugar, salt, and almond extract together in the food processor until light and foamy, about 15 seconds. Stir the egg mixture into the chopped coconut until combined. Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture is thick, about 30 minutes.
Adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and grease the paper. Using wet hands, roll 1 tablespoon of the mixture at a time into balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1 inch apart.
Bake the macaroons until light golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking. Let the macaroons cool completely on the baking sheets, before serving, about 1 hour.
For Chocolate-Dipped Macaroons
After the macaroons have cooled completely, melt 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate in the microwave, stirring often, 1 to 3 minutes. Dip each macaroon into the melted chocolate to coat, letting the excess drip back into the bowl, then lay it on a clean sheet of parchment paper. Let cool at room temperature until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.
Makes about 24 cookies.
Recipe from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book
Nice work, Gastronomer. I gave cookies, too, but also a lot of other things. I did *not* go to the Mall, but not everything came from Amazon (though once you have Prime, it seems silly to shop anywhere else, honestly).
I got something you might want (if you don’t already have it). It’s a mixer paddle for the KitchenAid that has little spatula edges so it scrapes the bowl while it mixes. Be still my heart, ZOMG, etc. And it’s cheap!
Happy Christmas to you two.
HA! My mom loves macaroons too! I think I bought shredded coconuts years ago, with the goal of making macaroons but never got around to it. Merry Christmas, my dear!
I don’t normally like the coconut macaroon, but those look pretty gosh darn tasty! I certainly wouldn’t kick them out from under my Christmas tree. 🙂
Hope you are having a merry one!
They do look good, but if your mother is from my generation (and I imagine she is) then we remember coconut macaroons being made from the egg whites and sugar whipped into a meringue, vanilla added and the coconut being folded in. This makes a light rather than a dense macaroon. Of course, you know your mother, and I don’t. To me, this was just a new way of making them. Merry Christmas.
what a great awesome accomplishment! congrats and merry xmas!
Cathy those macaroons look so delicious! You are so good to your mamma! I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family!
Very nice photos! Please submit these to our coconut group on flickr!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1251095@N23/
Oh yum, those look amazing! Definitely on my ‘to-make’ list.
This is one of my favorite recipes to make, which I learned from my mother!! Aren’t they just the best?
xo
Jen
p.s. let me know how the bacon brownies go if you decide to make them!!
Were you stuck at the airport? I vaguely remember your tweeting that… hope you made it back ok! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too!
Jealous of those lucky enough to be part of your gift exchange network! Those look delicious. Hope you’re staying warm wherever you’re celebrating the holidays!
choco-dipped macaroons are my fallback gift/potlucky sweet too — and perfect for my gluten-allergic friends/acquaintances… along with truffles 😉
Aw, yay, thanks for posting up the recipe. I used to make these macaroons quite often when I lived in Orlando, but seem to have lost the recipe when I moved to London. Good to know I can make them again! Thanks so much.
the recipe is great and I plan on doing it tomorrow :)I have just a question, how is it possible that with 5 cups of coconut flakes, only 24 cookies came out? I mean 5 cups is pretty major, or am I wrong? thanks 🙂
Plami – The proportions are correct. America’s Test Kitchen would never lead us astray! Have fun baking the macs!