Coconut macaroons

From Burden's Landing

I initially made David Lebovitz's recipe, as shown below:

(Supposedly makes) 30 cookies

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1-1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 2-1/2 cups unsweetened coconut (see note)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (optional -- for dipping)


1. In a large skillet, mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, honey, coconut and flour.

2. Heat over low-to-moderate heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom as you stir.

3. When the mixture just begins to scorch at the bottom, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature.

4. (At this point, the mixture can be chilled for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months.)

5. When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

6. Form the dough into 1 1/2-inch mounds with your fingers evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until deep golden brown. Cool completely.

7. To dip the macaroons in chocolate, melt the chocolate in a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in a microwave.) Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Dip the bottoms of each cookie in the chocolate and set the cookies on the baking sheet. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes, until the chocolate is set.

Note: Unsweetened coconut is available in most natural-food shops or you can purchase it online.

Notes

  • These did not turn out as well as the comments on David Lebovitz's site led me to believe they would. It took a long time to scorch the bottom of the macaroon dough. When I left the dough to cool at room temperature, the top of the dough exposed to air dried out and became crumbly. Happily, these crumbs, when scattered across a baking sheet, cooked into a delicious crunchy/chewy topping that would be tasty over ice cream.
  • I was able to make only about 18 small macaroons. They were tasty, but a bit compact.
  • I would feel comfortable cutting the sugar to 1 cup.

References

  • I have since found a site that used David Lebovitz's recipe as a reference, but also another one. The recipe calls for warming up of the egg whites and sugar, not the entire dough mixture. The recipe also uses sweetened coconut, which I would not recommend. As noted above, 1-1/4 cups sugar for 2-1/2 cups of unsweetened coconut was plenty, if not excessively, sweet. But I would try the technique noted on the site. There's an alternative method referred to on the site as well.