Today’s Recipe
This might not be the ideal summertime recipe in everyone’s eyes, as these are a common Christmas cookie in many homes, including in Scandinavia. However, these are popular year-round in supermarkets and bakeries too, and for good reason. They are sweet and soft with a crispy exterior, plus they have the most amazing coconut flavor. And we think coconut is actually a perfect flavor for the summer, as it’s refreshing and reminiscent of a day spent soaking up the sunshine! You can’t go wrong with these little cakes, whether you’re whipping them up for a Christmas cookie exchange or a summer dinner party. Read on to learn how you can make them easily at home.
Crispy and Sweet Macaroons
These macaroons have one of my favorite textures when it comes to baked goods. The outside gets nice and crisp and golden brown, while the interior is soft and very moist – not dry and crumbly! They almost melt in your mouth and shaping them into points ensures that the outside gets nice and brown. The coconut flakes add a great texture as well. The flavor is also so simple but so delicious! Coconut and dark chocolate just go really well together, with the fragrant coconut balanced out by the richness of the chocolate. You can also adjust the flavors if you want – we’ll give you some suggestions later on in the post.
A Simple and Quick Dessert
The most appealing part about this recipe, apart from the taste and texture, is that these are so simple and easy to make. They’re great if you have extra coconut from a different recipe and just want to whip up something sweet, and you can change them up with different flavor additions too. The mixture also only uses one egg but stretches a long way, as you get 18 macaroons out of it, so that’s a bonus! These are also a fun family project if you want to get any kids involved in shaping the macaroons or dipping them once they’re baked. Keep reading to learn how you can make them!
Ingredients
As I mentioned before, it doesn’t get easier than this when it comes to making a dessert. All you’ll need for the macaroons themselves is one egg, finely shredded coconut, sugar, and a pinch of salt. For flavor, we recommend orange zest, ground cardamom, and dark chocolate for dipping, but you can change this up. Lime zest would be delicious and a dash of another warm spice would probably also work well! You can use other types of chocolate too, if you like. One essential ingredient is finely shredded unsweetened coconut, which we would not recommend substituting with anything else. This is because larger shreds of coconut will result in macaroons that fall apart, and sweetened coconut will be far too sweet!
How to Make Coconut Macaroons
To make these macaroons, simply combine sugar and egg in a bowl and whisk together well, until it is pale yellow in color. Add in the remaining wet ingredients. Then, add the dry and combine again until you have a mass that sticks together. Shape these into little pyramids that come to a point at the top. If the dough is sticky, use a bit of water on your fingers and that should solve the problem. Bake in the oven until golden brown, then let them cool for a bit on the hot baking sheet before you transfer them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before dipping into melted chocolate. You can also drizzle it on top of them for a pretty design. Enjoy and share them – they’re too delicious not to!
Kokosmakroner (Coconut Macaroons)
Ingredients
- 150 grams finely shredded coconut *unsweetened
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- Orange zest *from 1 orange, can be optional!
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- Pinch of salt
- 100 grams dark chocolate *for dipping the cookies in
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C)
- Add the granulated sugar and large egg to a medium mixing bowl.
- With a whisk, combine the egg and sugar. Whisk until the mixture is a pale yellow in color.
- Add in orange zest, ground cardamom, and pinch of salt.
- Mix in the shredded coconut until you have a mass that holds together. It will be quite sticky!
- Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Heap 18 cookies onto the baking sheet. We tend to just divide the mixture evenly to get to eighteen!
- Get a little bowl of water and dip your fingers into the water. Shape the mounds into pyramids (more of a square base, coming to a point) or you can just round them out and make them more even. They will taste the same whatever shape they are, but will bake the best if they are all the same shape!
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until you see the edges turning golden.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing onto a cooling rack to fully cool. The cookies will remain a little sticky until they've cooled down.
- Melt chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. When the cookies have cooled, dip the base of each cookie in chocolate.
- Place on a piece of parchment paper to set – pop them in the fridge to set more quickly. Depending on how warm your room is, you may have to store these in the fridge to stop the chocolate from melting. Enjoy!
