Coconut macaroons are one of my absolute favourite treats. Packed full of coconut, crisp and golden on the outside but gloriously soft and chewy in the middle. What more do you want from a biscuity treat?
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One of my earliest memories of these biscuits was buying coconut and cherry macaroons from the Tesco bakery section as a teenager. They came in packs of two and were the best. I was gutted when they discontinued them. After their disappearance I would regularly get my macaroon fix by eating the choc macaroons from Mrs Crimble's. Yum!
While store bought macaroons are great nothing beats homemade coconut macaroons, especially this simple recipe with only 5 ingredients. These homemade coconut macaroons also make the perfect gift for birthdays and special occasions like Christmas and Easter. Just place them in a clear cellophane bag and tie them up a ribbon and they look pretty damn good.
WHAT ARE MACAROONS?
According to wikipedia macaroons are a type of biscuit originally from Italy. They are traditionally made with ground almond but can also be made with other ingredients such as desiccated coconut or other nuts. This base is then combined with sugar, flavouring (such as vanilla) and egg whites, and can be coated with jam or chocolate.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MACAROONS AND MACARONS?
Macaroons are often confused with the classic French macaron. Macarons are a hard shelled French meringue sandwich cookie with a chewy centre, found in french patisseries. They consist of two light, delicate cookies sandwiched together with a filling, such as ganache or buttercream. Macarons are made from egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, ground almond and come in many different colours. This is quite different from our macaroon which are denser, non-sandwich cookie, originally from Italy but popularised in the UK.
CAN COCONUT MACAROONS BE MADE IN ADVANCE?
They can be made in advance and kept for up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature.
CAN COCONUT MACAROONS BE FROZEN?
Yes, if you would like to store the coconut macaroons for longer than 7 days, after baking you can wrap them in cling film and pop them into the freezer. Alternatively you can layer them between pieces of baking paper. Macaroons can be stored in the freezer for up to three months. When you are ready to eat them just take them out of the freezer and allow them to de-froze at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Enjoy with a cup of tea!
CAN THE RECIPE BE DOUBLED?
Yes, this coconut macaroon recipe is completely scalable. Use twice the ingredients to double the batch, triple the ingredients to triple the batch and so on. I have not tried halving the recipe and I am not why you would want less macaroons, but if you needed to just half all the ingredients. To half the eggs, whisk up the whole egg whites and add half the whisked egg white that the recipe suggests.
WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED TO MAKE MACAROONS?
These coconut macaroons are the simplest treat and only have 5 ingredients.
Desiccated coconut - the base of our macaroons.
Condensed milk - the main sweetening agent that also helps stick everything together.
Vanilla extract - to enhance the flavour.
Egg whites - to lighten and leaven the macaroons as they bake without contributing any flavour. In this recipe we whisk the whites until you get stiff peaks. I still only have a hand whisk so this takes me forever but if you have an electric whisk or stand mixer it will only take a couple of minutes.
Milk chocolate - purely for decoration and is therefore optional but the chocolate really takes these coconut macaroons to the next level. Start by dipping the base of our baked and cooled macaroons in melted chocolate, then drizzle the remaining chocolate on top using a fork. Chocolate dipped coconut macaroons are the best!
HOW DO YOU MAKE COCONUT MACAROONS?
Start by combining the coconut and condensed milk together, then add the vanilla extract until they are well combined. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until you get stiff peaks then fold half the eggs whites into the coconut milk. Once it is folded in completely fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Take a heaped tablespoon of the coconut mixture and roll it into a ball using your hands then place the ball on a baking paper lined tray. Depending on the size of your balls you should get 11-12 macaroon. I like to weigh my wet mixture so that my macaroons are all the same size.
Bake at 160 °C fan for 20 mins or until they are golden brown. I prefer mine pretty brown but my oven is clearly not consistent. If this the case for you too it might be worth turning the tray halfway through the bake time to get more consistent macaroons.
Once the macaroons have completely cooled, melt the dark chocolate using either a bain-marie (melting chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a pot with small volume of barely simmering water) or a microwave. Dip the base of your coconut macaroons in the chocolate, then place the macaroons back on the baking paper lined tray to set. Drizzle the remaining chocolate on the macaroons using a fork. Leave to cool at room temperature until the chocolate has set entirely before moving.
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Easy coconut macaroon recipe
Serves 12
Prep time: 20 mins, Baking time: 20 mins
Total time: 4 hours (including cooling time)
Ingredients
200 g Desiccated coconut
200 g Condensed milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Egg white (Large egg)
80 g Milk chocolate
Method
Preheat the oven to 170 °C/150 °C Fan/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Mix the desiccated coconut and condensed milk in a large bowl.
Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
Separate the egg white from the yolk and whisk the egg white until you get stiff peaks (this can be done with a hand whisk but it is much easier with an electric whisk or stand mixer). You know you have stiff peaks when the egg white stays firm on your whisk.
Slowly fold in half the whisked egg white into the coconut mixture.
Once it is fully incorporated, fold in the rest of the whisked egg white.
Spoon a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and roll into a ball, then add to the lined baking tray.
You should end up with 11-12 balls depending on how large you make them.
Bake in the oven for 20 mins or until they are golden brown and firm on top but still soft inside.
Leave the macaroons to cool for 5 mins on the baking tray then transfer to a plate or wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
Once the macaroons have entirely cooled, melt the milk chocolate using a ban-marie or microwave.
Dip the bottom of the macaroon in the coconut and place it back on the baking paper.
Once they have all been dipped in the chocolate using a fork drizzle the remaining chocolate on top of the macaroons.
Leave the chocolate to completely cool and set before moving. This should take a couple of hours.
Enjoy with a cup of tea.
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