Friday, March 29, 2013

White Chocolate Lime Coconut Macaroons and Dark Chocolate Macadamia Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons 3-29-13

I originally was just planning to share with you this great Coconut Macaroon recipe I recently found.  I made them for the first time in January and it has taken me this long to get my act together and get it blogged, so today I thought I’d make them again.  While making them, I had an idea to try some of the mixture with some lime zest added and dip them in white chocolate.  Then  I wanted to just make more of them the way I originally did with the bottom of them dipped in dark chocolate.  While dipping some, I dropped one in the chocolate, so I just dunked the whole thing and enrobed it in dark chocolate.  Ended up making a few like that. (Can you say Almond Joy?!)  I also recently saw some macaroons that were drizzled with chocolate and had macadamia nuts on top—so I did that, too.

I don’t know why I never thought of the fact that coconut macaroons can have so many different things added.  I also don’t know which kind I like the best.  The white chocolate lime ones are really good and have the little added zing that is good. 

When I originally made these back in January I made them for my book group.  One of the gals in the group doesn’t like chocolate (GASP!), so I always try to make something she can enjoy.  So I made a batch and dipped half in chocolate and left half “plain”.

Coconut Macaroons--What Jew Wanna Eat

Yes, I dipped more in chocolate than I left plain.  ;)

Coconut Macaroons 2

Just teasing, it was about half and half.   They really are great both ways, like they stand on their own without the chocolate.  If you like coconut, you’ll love these.  All the macaroon recipes I’ve seen and made before usually have egg whites and/or sweetened condensed milk.  The coconut is usually just mixed in to the barely beaten egg whites.  This recipe has the egg whites first beaten to a stiff peak with a little sugar added, then the coconut (and ground almonds) are folded in to the egg whites.

For the macadamia nut ones, I just sprinkled some on the tops, but these would be even more kicked up Hawaiian-like if you added ground macadamia nuts to the coconut mixture instead of almonds.

I found this treasured recipe at Amy’s blog, What Jew Wanna Eat.  I’m not Jewish and don’t eat Kosher, but love her blog.  Check out the link for her macaroons, she made them with the bottoms dipped in chocolate, then dipped in sea salt and rainbow sprinkles.  Love!  I also like that they are made with unsweetened coconut, which I prefer to the long shreds of sweetened coconut.  Though both times I made these, I didn’t quite have enough unsweetened and used two cups unsweetened and one cup of sweetened.  I like the texture of unsweetened coconut and that it is usually ground to a finer consistency. 

Coconut Macaroons with White Chocolate and Lime or Dark Chocolate, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Amy, What Jew Wanna Eat

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

3 cups coconut (unsweetened or sweetened, or a mix of—your choice)

1/2 cup ground almonds (I used sliced almonds, then ground them in the food processor)

3 ounces white chocolate, melted*

zest of half a lime

3 ounces dark chocolate, melted*

Macadamia nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites in a mixer on high to a soft peak.  Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Then fold in the vanilla, salt, coconut and ground almonds. 

If making some with lime, put half the coconut mixture in a separate bowl and add the lime zest and stir to incorporate.  Scoop mounds of all the mixtures about ping pong ball size onto the baking sheet.  Bake for about 15 minutes until the macaroons are dry to the touch.  Let cool on baking sheet until they are firm enough to move to a wire rack (they are slightly delicate).  Once cooled, dip the bottoms of the lime macaroons in the melted white chocolate and set them on waxed paper to let the chocolate harden.  Then dip the other half in the dark chocolate, or drizzle the chocolate over the tops and sprinkle with macadamia nuts, or colorful sprinkles, or whatever you’d like! 

White Chocolate LIme Coconut Macaroons 3-29-13

Go ahead and play with your macaroons, flavors could be endless!

Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

My favorite are probably the simple coconut macaroons, dipped in dark chocolate, but those white chocolate lime ones ARE pretty darn good, if you HAVE to have white chocolate instead of dark. ;)

10 comments:

Amanda said...

Here's what I think. You still have my address. You should mail me some, and then I'll come back here and tell you which one is my favorite :)

vanillasugarblog said...

absolutely love what you've done with these.
why not lime?

Anonymous said...

This looks a lot like yummy Schwedenbomben candies I saw on a recent trip to Austria (I attend university in England)--the S. candy has a cake base with coconut on top covered in chocolate. Yours looks nice too : D

Im At Home Baking said...

Yum! These look great!

Emily said...

Gorgeous! I love macaroons.

Veronica Miller said...

This recipe sound so good, as do your variations, esp since there are ground almonds in it. I bet the texture is to die for! And I love Amanda's suggestion-lol!

Nutmeg Nanny said...

These look awesome, I love that you added some variety to the recipe :)

Lisa said...

I could definitely see these with orange and dark chocolate as well. Love your variations.

Cindy said...

Macaroons are the best. When my SIL and I eat at Kneaders we always treat ourselves to a Macaroon. I think I will make a batch and share some with her! Thanks for the fun post.

Pam said...

Coconut Macaroons - my favorite of all time and these look delicious