The Final Words on Macaroon Madness

I think it's time for my macaroon obsession to come to an end. I'll still make them (they're just so easy!), but I don't want to seem like a one-ingredient obsessed baker. So, in this entry, the last word on macaroons (for now), I'll share my experiment with fresh coconut and some other ideas to add to my original recipe (see blog #2).

My daughter and I passed a fresh coconut at the grocery store a few weeks ago. Since I was in the middle of my madness (well, the coconut one), I thought it would be fun to see how the macaroons would taste with fresh coconut.

Cracking the giant nut (actually, it's a seed, but once the husk on the outside is gone, which it always is at the grocery store, it's no longer productive) is a tough task. I used a hammer and a screwdriver to make a couple of holes in the "eyes", poured out the coconut milk inside, and then had to take it outside to crack against the driveway. I'm still hoping the neighbor hasn't called child protection, since it looked like a baby's head in a dish towel. Once the coconut was in pieces, I discarded the tough shell and grated the raw coconut meat. I stored it in the freezer until I was ready to use it. I happened to be making rice pudding, with leftover rice from our Chinese take-out dinner, and used the coconut milk in place of two-thirds of the regular milk. I like to cook my rice pudding by adding the liquid in small amounts, like risotto until it's very creamy. I even tossed in a few shreds of coconut. Very tasty!

In an effort to do the recipe development myself, I didn't turn to the web where there are several recipes, I'm sure. I decided to modify the one I've been using all along. My first run at the recipe produced spongy macaroons (which my husband loved, but didn't satisfy me), so I reduced the egg whites and added a little more flour.

Fresh Coconut Macaroons

5 1/3 cups fresh, grated coconut

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 egg whites
1 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the first 4 ingredients, then add the egg whites and almond extract. Scoop with a small ice cream scoop or spoon onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.

I found these macaroons to be a little more nutty than the ones made with sweetened shredded coconut in the bag. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Back to the original recipe and my can't-leave-a-good-recipe-alone twists:

Chocolate Macaroons

3 tbsp cocoa powder (the good stuff, please, ie. Scharffen Berger)
1 tsp orange flower or rose flower water

I happened to be out of good cocoa when I made this recipe. But, I had something even better - Persian Cocoa from Golden Fig. It's a lovely blend of French cocoa powder, rose powder, cardamom, and orange powder. Oh my, what a macaroon! I certainly did the food dance after eating this one. You can buy the Persian Cocoa at Golden Fig, 790 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN or online at http://www.goldenfig.com/. Or, try Golden Fig's Northern Woods Cocoa with cinnamon and maple powder. Add a pinch of cayenne for a little Mayan heat.

Pina Colada Macaroons

1/2 cup diced dried pineapple
1 tsp. orange flower water or, if you can find it, pineapple extract

This was another hit in the family. For a variation, and because one of the things I like most about coconut macaroons is the chewy edges, I flattened out the macaroon to around 1/2" before baking (see the macaroon on the left in the photo). If you're like me and are an edge nibbler, this is the ultimate way to make the macaroons.


Cherry Chocolate Macaroons


1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries
1/3 cup dark or semi-sweet small chocolate chips (or roughly chop up the regular size)
1 tsp almond extract

I haven't made this recipe yet, but it sounds so very tasty to me.


Curried Macaroons


1 tsp sweet curry (again, I love the blend from Golden Fig)
1/2 cup chopped dried mangoes
1 tsp orange flower water

Another untested recipe, but one would think coconut and curry would be a match made in Kashmir.


One thing I've noticed on my macaroon journey is how important it is to judge the doneness (is that a word?) by the eye. There have been times when it took an extra 15-20 minutes to get the golden brown I wanted. It's probably my uncalibrated oven, but I'm used to the watch-and-see game with whatever I bake. I also put a few unbaked coconut macaroons in the freezer to bake at a later date. I'll let you know how those come out. Wouldn't that be nice to be able to bake off a few at a time? Then, you can have fresh macaroons anytime you crave them. Midnight snack, anyone?


I'd love to hear your suggestions for other additions to coconut macaroons. I'm sure if I had 50 bags of coconut, I could come up with 50 variations on the recipe. Or, just leave me on a desert island full of coconuts. I'll need my oven, please. And, a swanky camper with indoor plumbing. And, loads of tea and milk. Maybe I'd tire of coconut macaroons after a year or so, but probably not.

Macaroon Madness

I have become obsessed with Coconut Macaroons these days. My family seems to be okay with this, since they're eating every last one that I make (if I don't eat them all first), but they may start asking for good, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies one of these days. Well, I don't always leave that recipe alone, either, but that's for another posting.

It all started with a rather innocent question from my stepdaughter about how to make macaroons. Macaroons have always been a favorite of mine. I remember getting them from the fancier grocery store in town when I was a kid, as a special treat. I loved the chewy interior and crunchy exterior. I've tried to make them with sweetened condensed milk, but that just wasn't the texture I was looking for. (I have to say, I could eat an entire can of sweetened condensed milk with a spoon, but it didn't do it for me in the macaroon.)

I decided to try the recipe on the back of the Baker's Coconut bag. Now, Baker's has a few extra ingredients that I'm not crazy about adding to the food I feed my family (propylene glycol and sodium metabisulfate - for freshness and color), but I'm not always adamant about that. Heck, we know all the ingredients in Twinkies, but I'm not opposed to downing a few of them every once in a while. I'll be heading over to my local co-op sometime soon, since I'm sure they have a very good bag of coconut that I can use instead. I've even tried using freshly grated coconut, but more on that later.

The Baker's recipe was pretty much everything I was looking for, with a few tweaks, here and there. Here is my modified version of their recipe:

Coconut Macaroons

5 1/3 cups flaked coconut (14 oz.)

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

4 egg whites (reserve the yolks for custard, lemon curd, or some other amazing treat)

1 tsp. almond extract

Combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl. Stir in the egg whites and almond extract until well mixed. Using a small ice cream scoop, or a spoon, drop onto a parchment covered pan (or, grease and flour the pan - don't use tin foil alone, since they will stick).

Bake at 325 F for 20 minutes, or until the edges are a nice toasty, golden brown. I pick them up (asbestos fingertips help) and check the bottoms for that golden brown color. Makes around 28 macaroons.

I love to serve the macaroons slightly warm. Okay, "serve" sounds pretty fancy. We all stand around the stove, staring at the macaroons, until I declare them cool enough to eat. Then, we devour them. The few left over I store in a container. If I hide them from the little foodies in the house, I might even still have a yummy treat to myself for up to 4 weeks. They can even be frozen. But, these morsels are easy to make when the mood strikes - which seems to be about once a week around here.

Next posting, I'll talk about my never-ending need to not leave well enough alone. The tea pot is boiling, and it's time for another cup of tea.

The Food Dance

For the last few months, I've been playing in my tiny kitchen. And, I've been doing the Food Dance. Have you ever eaten something so good that your body starts to move, or your head starts to nod, as if you were agreeing with the food gods that you've just created one of the best tastes ever? That's the Food Dance, and it's my favorite dance. I'm here to share my recipes and some of the pictures I've taken. Let me know if you have any ideas or recipes you'd like me to try. I especially love sweets and baking.

I'd also like to share some of the things I've learned from running a very small, but growing, business for the last 14 years. I figure I've made a few mistakes and had some nice successes, and I'd like someone else to learn a little from them.

Consider this a brief ramble. I'm in my kitchen, trying to find space on the counter, creating an exciting variation on the all-American treat, the Coconut Macaroon. And, I think a cup of tea is calling my name.