Something’s off with me this week. It’s been nonstop crazy, Ryan was out of town for work for a few days, and I just can’t seem to get anything done. Even though the sun’s out longer, there never seems to be enough hours in the day! In addition to a million other things going on, I decided to make some treats to send to my two moms this year since we won’t be spending Sunday with either of them. When Ryan and I were brainstorming our respective mothers’ favorite sweets, we both mentioned Almond Joys and since Ryan has been bugging me to make macaroons forever, these Almond Joy Macaroons were a natural choice. Sounds great right? Well, I couldn’t seem to finish them in a timely manner and only just made it to the post office yesterday, so looks like these well-intentioned treats will have to be Mother’s Day Monday gifts instead. I figured I would feature them in a post today to let my Mom and Cheri know that no, we didn’t forget about them – these delicious coconut goodies are on their way!!
I realize I’m a little late with macaroons since Passover has come and gone, but even though there are no leavening agents here, they’re certainly appropriate for any season. I’m a newly converted coconut fan, so macaroons are a whole new adventure for me. I’ve been building my coconut tolerance over the past year with yummy things like Homemade Samoas, White Chocolate Coconut Parfaits, and Energy Oat Balls (which I make about once a week) and these macaroons are the ultimate coconut dessert. Ryan’s been a fan for life, so he was certainly exited to see the huge bags of shredded coconut I brought home the other day to make a double batch. They were so extremely easy to make I was kind of shocked, so of course I had to take a few extra steps and dress them up to make them special. Nothing a little melted chocolate can’t fix! I used a new gourmet melting chocolate I discovered called Chocoley and dipped and drizzled the macaroons with melted dark chocolate to make them resemble Almond Joy candy bars. The addition of an almond on top of course makes them Almond Joy instead of just Mounds inspired, but you could leave them off if you wish. Nothing says “I love you, Mom” quite like crisp toasted coconut, chewy centers, and plenty of dark chocolate.
If my taco cookies are considered time-intensive and artistic, these macaroon cookies are the polar opposite. There are only a handful of ingredients, only a few bowls required, and the messier you are with the mounds of coconut and drizzles of chocolate the better. Macaroons are meant to look homemade and rustic! I’d be suspicious of any perfectly round macaroon – that just ain’t right. There are so many flavor varieties you could play with here depending on your favorite combinations – salted caramel perhaps? How about some sort of jam and peanut butter drizzle? Since they’re so easy to make things might just get dangerous around here!
Almond Joy Macaroons
Recipe adapted from My Name is Yeh
Yield: About 24 cookies
Ingredients:
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 14 oz bag sweetened shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
24 raw almonds
9 oz semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate baking melts
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
In a large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk with the vanilla. Add the coconut, mix well and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the eggs into the coconut mixture until evenly distributed.
Form balls with about 2 tsp of batter each, or use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets about 1" apart and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a small bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, until completely melted. Dip the bottoms of each macaroon into the chocolate and transfer back to the lined baking sheets. Place an almond atop each cookie, and drizzle remaining chocolate over the tops of each cookie either with a spoon or with the chocolate in a piping bag (or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off). Allow the chocolate to set completely before serving.
Happy Mother’s Day to these beautiful women – the macaroons are on their way, I promise! I am lucky to have such a wonderful relationship with my Mom, and miss her so much now that we’re a few hours away. This is both of our Moms’ first Mother’s Day as mothers-in-law as well, so it’s special for all of us. Ryan and I are creeping up on our one year anniversary, so this little photo montage below honors both our Moms and our almost one year of marriage. (But let’s face it, I’m definitely going to dedicate a whole ‘nother post to that!) xoxoxo
Long time lurker, first time commenting… I love this!! I’m going to make these for my brother, whose birthday happens to fall on Mother’s Day this year. He loves macaroons, so I’m sure he’ll love these tasty treats!
I love your recipes; we are going to do this one on Sunday for our dieting group. We are going to add dark chocolate bits (cacao raw chocolate). One woman in our group lost 30 pounds by using dark chocolate.
Here http://diettolose30.blogspot.com/2014/04/eat-chocolate-lose-weight-truth.html
Oh no! This looks too tasty. I was looking for healthy recipes and I found a decadent, delicious recipe for macaroons. I’m going to have to try it. :)
Love your blog! I was wondering — after dipping the bottoms of the macaroons in chocolate and placing them back on parchment paper, is there any particular step to take so that the melted chocolate doesn’t completely come off and stick to the paper? Thanks so much.
Erica — May 7th, 2015 @ 1:15 pm
So if you use wax paper, the chocolate should set on the cookies and then come off cleanly from the paper. It won’t get stuck to the paper or slide off! Enjoy them :)
Can they be frozen?