The Macaroon

This recipe also comes from the HomeMade Life book i just read. I'd been thinking about them ever since i read the recipe, and had preemptively bought the coconut. We awoke this morning to temps in the 30s with sleet/snow/rain coming down. I think that weather recipe calls for a day full of baking warm deliciousness. After eating one macaroon, and only one- that was pretty hard-, I can't stop thinking about the delightful texture. They are like a shout-out to the Almond Joy but with homemade goodness baked right in. I'd call this a cross between candy and cookie. It's something I'd love to pass out at Halloween, except that there are too many parents out there like Dad who suspect a straight pin in every treat. ha. remember that?
Have a glass of water ready to drink after eating one of these. Yes, even Darin will need a full glass of water, not even milk, after this!


Cococut Macaroons with Chocolate Ganache

3 cups lightly packed sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c egg whites (from about 5 large eggs)
1 1/2 t vanilla
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (it's important to use a fine quality chocolate for ganache. i use ghiradelli. 4 oz = a generous 1/2 c)
1/2 c heavy cream


Place coconut, sugar, and egg whites in heavy 2-3 quart sauce pan and stir well. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently 10-15 minutes. the mixture will look very creamy as it heats and then it will slowly get a bit drier, with indvidual flakes of coconut becoming discernable. stop cooking with it no longer looks creamy but is still quite sticky and moist, not dry. remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

scrape the mixture into a pie plate of small baking sheet, spread it out a bit to allow it to cool quickly and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

preheat oven to 300. line baking sheet with parchment paper. i don't do this b/c i use stoneware.

using your hands or a small ice cream scoop (i use the scoop b/c it's my new found cookie-baking joy), scoop and firmly pack the coconut mixture into small domes. space them evenly on the baking sheet.

bake the macaroons until evenly golden, about 30 minutes. cool completely on the pan on a wire rack. then remove the macaroons from the baking sheet and set them on the rack. set the rack over the baking sheet.

Put the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally until it is hot and steaming. do not allow it to boil. remove the pan from the heat and pour the cream over the chocolate. let it sit for 1 minute then stir until smooth. spoon the warm ganache generously over the macaroons, shaking them gently if needed to coax the ganache down their sides.


refrigerate the macaroons on the rack until the ganache sets at least 2 hours. this is the hardest part b/c you just made these wonderful looking and smelling cookies and you don't get immediate gratification. letting them harden is worth it though! transfer them to airtight container, refrigerate or freeze.



Hmm, what to do with leftover ganache? Oh! I'll use it as a frosting for the "winning hearts and minds cake" i made last week. That was desert tonight! yum! Eric calls this kind of dessert "Death by Chocolate".