Coconut macaroons tend to be rather chewy affairs. Super sweet. Super chewy. Like the inside of an Almond Joy bar. (My dad, by the way, loves Almond Joy, gets tons of it to give away at Halloween knowing that the rest of us won’t touch them and he’ll have more for himself.)
Me? Not a big fan. That is, until our pastry chef neighbor Evie brought over her macaroons. Soft and smooth on the inside. Lightly sweet. No texture issues. Lovely.
The secret ingredient? According to Evie, baby food applesauce. That’s right, baby food. It’s just the smoothest applesauce you can get, and it comes in conveniently small jars. You don’t need that much.
I found after multiple batches and lots of experimenting, that you also need to use unsweetened coconut, somewhat finely ground. Sweetened coconut won’t do, because you won’t be able to break it down enough even in a food processor.
I also experimented a bit with the ingredient amounts. I found that you get a smoother cookie through and through if you use 2 cups of the coconut, but if you want a more crunchy, textured surface, you need to add a little more, perhaps another 1/4 cup of coconut to the mixture.
Coconut Macaroons Recipe
Under no circumstances can you use reduced fat coconut for this recipe. Even subbing a portion of the coconut with the reduced fat kind will result in a dough that doesn't want to hold together or cookies that are too dry to be good.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (60g) of egg whites (from 2 extra large eggs, or a teaspoon and a half less than what you can get from 3 large eggs)
- 3/4 cup sugar (5 1/2 oz, 150g)
- 2 to 2 1/4 cups* medium grate unsweetened coconut (5.5 to 6.17 oz, 150-175g)
- 5 teaspoons smooth, unsweetened applesauce (regular or baby food)
If you want a crunchy cookie surface with lots of crevasses, use 2 1/4 cups. If you want a more smooth cookie surface, use 2 cups.
Read More: Coconut Macaroons
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