Description
These easy gluten-free coconut macaroons are soft, chewy & dipped or drizzled in chocolate for a delicious finish. If you love chocolate and coconut desserts, you’ll flip for these easy cookies!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 (14-ounce) package sweetened shredded coconut (like Baker’s Angel Flake coconut)
- 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (you won’t use the whole can)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 egg whites*
- 6-8 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate*
- optional: 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep. To start, heat oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine. In a large bowl, combine coconut, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir until well blended then set aside.
- Whip Egg Whites. In a separate clean bowl (glass work best!), whip egg whites with an electric mixer on medium-high speed about 3 minutes, until the egg whites have reached stiff peaks. When you lift your beaters out of the eggs, they should hold their shape. This is the KEY step for this recipe, so don’t rush!
- Fold. Gradually fold the egg mixture into the coconut mixture. (I do this 1/4 of the whipped egg whites at a time.) Try to FOLD the eggs in, rather than stir them, so you don’t completely deflate the whipped whites.
- Scoop. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop 1 1/2 Tablespoon-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets. (You’ll likely get 20-22 macaroons, depending on how tightly you pack the coconut mixture)
- Bake. Working with just one tray at a time, bake 15-20 minutes, or until just turning golden. Remove from the oven and bake the other tray of macaroons. Let all the macaroons cool completely before dipping in chocolate.
- Melt Chocolate. Finely chop the chocolate and add to a microwave-safe bowl. For smoother melting, add 1/2 teaspoon oil. (This is optional, but can make the chocolate easier to work with.) Melt on low power in the microwave 10-15 seconds at a time, stirring well between each interval until the chocolate is smooth and glossy.
- Dip Macaroons in Chocolate. Dip just the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate and let any excess chocolate drip off before putting the macaroons back on the parchment to set. If you have extra chocolate, you can drizzle it on the macaroons. (If you want to drizzle all the macaroons, I recommend using 8 oz of chocolate. If you don’t want to drizzle, 6 oz will be enough for all the bottoms!)
- Set, Serve & Store. Let the chocolate set before removing from the baking sheets. You can speed this along by chilling the trays in the refrigerator! Enjoy right away, store in an airtight container for up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.
Notes
Ingredient & Recipe Notes:
- Use SWEETENED coconut flakes for this recipe. If you use unsweetened coconut, they’ll be dry and pretty flavorless. We prefer Angel Flake brand since it gives consistently moist results.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk. I know it’s annoying not to use the whole can of milk, but a whole can is too much for this recipe. The macaroons will spread too much and won’t hold their shape.
- Let The Chocolate Drip! If you’re dipping the macaroons in chocolate, make sure to let all the excess chocolate drip off the macaroons before putting them back on the baking sheet. Otherwise, the chocolate will pool at the bottom and create a big puddle. (If this happens to you, you can lift the macaroons out of the puddle and put them on a fresh sheet of parchment.)
Key Step: Whip The Egg Whites!
- The crucial step in this recipe is properly whipping the egg whites. You’re aiming for stiff peaks. This will take about 3 minutes on medium-high speed in a glass bowl.
- Temp Matters! It’s easier to separate eggs when they’re cold, but the egg whites will whip better at room temperature.
- Use a CLEAN bowl & beaters. If there’s even a little bit of egg yolk in the whites or grease in the bowl, the egg whites will never whip properly.
- Look & test. The whites should look opaque, almost like foamy shaving cream. When you lift the beaters out of the whipped whites, there will be small peaks that rise up out of the whites. They should hold their shape and not flop over.
- Why Did My Macaroons Spread? If you measured everything properly, the most likely reason is that your egg whites weren’t whipped properly to stiff peaks (soft peaks isn’t enough!), or that you deflated the egg whites by over-mixing them into your coconut mixture. Remember to hit stiff peaks and to gently fold them in!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
