Chocolate Chip Coconut Macaroons – SRC

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Debbie Does Dinner… Healhy and Low Calorie. She has some great recipes for healthy and low cal dinners, but we all know that healthy and low cal aren’t really in my dictionary… so I went for her desserts. Lucky for me (thanks Debbie!), she also has an extensive list of luscious desserts and Amish bread recipes that I was able to pick from. It was a tough decision, but since I was pressed for time this week I went with her Coconut Macaroons. Believe it or not – I’ve never made them before! So simple, so delicious, yet it’s just never been a recipe I’ve thought to try. Last week Kevin got a chocolate chip macaroon from Flour Bakery, and so I felt inspired to give them a try.

The recipe is about as easy as it gets – measure out your ingredients, pour into a bowl, and mix! I added a few things, but even still, they were a breeze, and so tasty. I followed Debbie’s recipe almost exactly, only adding a few extras to kick them up a notch. To start, I added the seeds from 1/2 a vanilla bean, just for the look (I love seeing vanilla seed flecks in my baked goods!) and a bit of more earthy flavor. I also added chocolate chips, since we all know of my obsession with chocolate, AND opted to dip most of the finished macaroons in more chocolate.

The resulting cookie is extremely tender and melt-in-your-mouth. I liked them dipped in chocolate, but liked them plain as well. I cooked them just until set, so the centers are still gooey, and the outsides were a lovely golden brown. The chocolate chips added a bit of texture and a wonderful depth of flavor (gotta love the dark chocolate), and were a pleasant contract to the sweet coconut. I was extremely pleased with these cookies (as Kevin seemed to be as well), and will definitely be making them again!

Little known secret: I’ve actually played with the idea of launching an Etsy shop for baked goods, and if I do, these will be one of the first thing to go on it! These and my recent chocolate turtles… so good.

Coconut Macaroons