Coconut Macaroons

Hello everyone!

Its been a few days since I've last posted and felt the need to post, so here I am. :)

There is something really Christmas like to Macaroons I think. I feel really Christmasy at the minute Who knows why really? Maybe because it is only 10 Friday's until Christmas? Maybe because I am making Macaroons?

You might be a Scrooge, but as far as i'm concerned, I'm an Elf, with a capital E. Again, who knows why? Noun comes to mind... person, place or thing. This is definitely two of the three.

I had never made these type of Macaroons before, notice the extra 'O'. A lot of recipe spell Macarons with two O's, when it should be one. They are almond based.

1 x O = Macaron- Almond Based

2 x O's = Macaroon - Coconut Based

This is a recipe off the All UK Recipes site on the internet. I like finding recipes and trying them out, if for no other reason than to mess about.

The ingredients you'll need are, these make 10 ice-cream scoop sized macaroons. Nearly made the mistake of only putting in one O there. Whoops!

Ingredients:

The ingredients that you'll need are;

- 2 Eggs
- 225g Desiccated Coconut
- 150g Caster Sugar

The method is pretty simple. So simple in fact a pigeon could do it.

What you want to do first is;

- Line a baking sheet or two with baking paper. I used the baking paper for baking specifically, but you could also use baking parchment or whatever you have handy.

- Put the eggs into a mixer and whisk on a high speed until thick and fluffy.

- Gradually add in the sugar and whisk until this forms a thick base. The kind of thickness you would get, were you making a Swiss Roll. But we aren't, so...

- Add in the Desiccated Coconut and whisk until fully combined and holding its shape.

- Let this sit, stand, rest, basically don't go faffing around with it. No touching for 20 minutes!

- Then, once the mix has sat, for who knows what reason, probably something scientific, wet an ice cream scoop.

- Use the ice cream scoop to plop out little mounds of coconut goodness and space around 3cm apart from each other. No, they don't spread apart much, but a little. Nobody wants their little Macaroons to turn and morph into one big, beast of a Macaroon.

- Bake these are 190 C in a Fan Assisted oven for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown and dry on the outside. In that you don't want them to stick to your hands when touching them. You remember our discussion about faffing? Well...

- When cooked and smelling all Christmas like, take them out of the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack for a while. They will eventually set and firm up more. You won't think it, I didn't. But rest assured they will!

And that is it as they say!

You could of course grace these little treats with some melted chocolate or cherries. Even marshmallows. Anything really! I might add chocolate next time.

Notice this recipe didn't use rice paper. I was quite glad at this as yes, it does mean you have to use a spatula to release them from the paper a little, but I couldn't find any rice paper. If you know where to acquire it, please tell me.

Although, after I made these, I tried a different recipe. This time a Nigella Lawson one. In her version, which I used, she said to have the following ingredients;

Ingredients:

- 2 Large Eggs, whites only. Keep the yolk for french toast or something.
- 100g Caster Sugar.
- 30g Ground Almonds.
- A dash of Vanilla Extract.
- 250g Desiccated Coconut.

She said to add a few more ingredients like cream of tartar and salt, but I didn't bother. Making them my own I guess, putting my own twist on things.

Method:

- Whisk the egg whites until frothy, white and forming soft peaks.

- Gradually add in the sugar, a little at a time to make this into a meringue like texture.

- Fold in the desiccated coconut, almonds and vanilla.

In the last recipe, the Macaroons, even though they were still yummy, they were softer in texture. This, I have come to the conclusion is due to the fact that I didn't press them together enough. I did for these ones.

Once they were combined, I got my hand into them. Clean, don't worry. I scrunched the mixture and pressed them together so that they formed sturdy mounds that didn't fall apart when being moved around. Yay!

I then baked these for 15 minutes at 170C in a fan assisted oven for 15 minutes or just under that. I baked them not until they were golden brown all over, but just until they were flecked with little golden brown patches. This I feel make them look different, unique even. And frankly, to me more appealing.

I then left them to cool and even though, a little firmer in texture, I think after tasting both they were better both in convenience in eating them. They didn't fall apart when lifting them and eating. And they had that more chewy texture that I would expect from a Macaroon.

Comparison done and dusted! Yum!

Thanks and hope you all enjoyed this.

Ciara