Easy Coconut Macaroons
3 egg whites
3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 1/2 cups shredded coconut (unsweetened)
Optional but good: 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil, melted
- Beat the egg whites with the sugar, salt, and extracts with the whisk attachment in a stand mixer, or by hand. Beat for about 1 minute until the sugar is dissolved. You are not aiming to beat until it’s stiff, just foamy.
- Stir in the coconut with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well mixed. Let the mixture sit for at least 30 minutes to rehydrate the coconut.
- Heat oven to 325°F. Scoop out heaping tablespoons of mixture and form into balls.* This is much easier if you have a scoop, as the dough is very sticky. If doing by hand, wet your hands with water. You should end up with about 24 balls. Place on parchment or silicone lined pans and press gently to flatten the bottoms. They can be fairly close together, about 1 inch, as they will not expand. Bake for 20 minutes or just until the bottoms are lightly browned and the tops are just a little golden. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- If desired, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small saucepan over the lowest heat setting on the stove. Stir until chips are melted. Dip the cookie bottoms in the chocolate and place back on the cookie sheet. You could also drizzle the tops with the chocolate. Chill until chocolate is hard.
*Or don’t worry about forming balls. Just place dollops on the cookie sheet.