On the second day of cookies I slaved and baked for thee, a few macaroons sweet and chewy as can be.

Coconut Macaroons are one of my top ten favorite cookies, period. I look forward to having these chewy morsels every Christmas season. Unfortunately, I never make them myself. Gasp! I know I thought about this the other day. I never really realized I only bought one of my favorite cookies from a local chocolate shop and didn’t actually make it myself. I don’t know what’s wrong with me! This year I was determined to rectify the situation by using my grandmother’s recipe and making my own beloved Coconut Macaroons.

Coconut Macaroons

3 egg whites, whipped to stiff peaks

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp kosher salt

1 pound of unsweetened shredded coconut

2 cups semi sweet chocolate, melted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. 

With a hand mixer whip egg whites to stiff peaks and put aside. In a separate bowl, mix together condensed milk, vanilla and coconut. Fold in the egg whites until fully incorporated. 

Scoop the mixture by the spoonful onto the lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden brown for about 12 minutes.

Cool completely on wire racks. There’s an optional step to dip the bottoms in melted chocolate. It’s not necessary but I can’t resist chocolate and coconut as a combo so I always dip my macaroon’s butts.

If you don’t want to dip them, you can store the macaroons in an airtight container once completely cooled. 

If you would like to coat the bottoms, melt your chocolate with a double boiler or microwave. Dip each macaroon and set them back onto the parchment lined baking sheets. Once the chocolate has set and hardened, store the macaroons in an airtight container.