I love coconut macaroons- chewy and sweet, with a dark chocolate bottom to balance the sweetness. I like to use a 70-80% dark chocolate for dipping, but use whatever you prefer!
They're a nice treat anytime of year, but particularly in the spring when coconut desserts seem fitting for easter. These macaroon are made with maple syrup, instead of the typical sweetened condensed milk, so they're also a nod to maple season in the northeast.
The added coconut cream ups the coconut flavor, and also lends a nice chewy texture to the macaroons.
Be sure to use unsweetened, finely shredded coconut for this recipe. I like this one!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut cream (from the top of a can of full fat coconut milk, or a can of straight coconut cream)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg whites
couple pinches salt, to taste
2 oz. good quality dark chocolate (I like 70% or 80% here)
Method:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
With a stand mixer, hand mixer, or whisk, beat egg whites until foamy. If you're using an electric mixer, this will take about 15 seconds, and if you're beating them by hand it could take up to a minute. You're not looking for stiff peaks, you simply want them to be foamy.
In a large bowl, combine shredded coconut, coconut cream, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Mix well (I use my hands here, rather than a spoon.) Taste for salt, and add more if needed. The salt is a nice counterpoint to the sweetness from the maple syrup.
Add egg whites to coconut mixture and mix well. Scoop rounded tablespoonfuls of the coconut mixture, and place on the parchment lined baking sheet. You can get away without much space between the macaroons, because they don't spread like regular cookies.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes, on the middle oven rack, rotating the tray halfway through to ensure even cooking. You want the macaroons to have a lovely golden/brown color on the top and bottom of each cookie. Remove from oven to cool completely before dipping in chocolate.
To prepare the chocolate, break chocolate into pieces and melt it via double boiler over low heat. Remove from heat when it's mostly melted, and stir until any unmelted pieces melt.
Dip the bottom of each macaroon into the chocolate, and leave at room temperature until the chocolate firms up. Alternatively, you can simply drizzle the melted chocolate on top of the macaroons. Store tightly sealed at room temp for a few days.