Dark Chocolate Macaroons

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Is it weird that I love the Bob's Red Mill aisle at my local grocery store? Bags and bags of flours, oatmeal, seeds, grains… so many possibilities, I could browse for a long, long time. (Yes, I totally know it's weird. I don't even know why I asked.)

Recently I picked up a bag of the unsweetened shredded coconut to attempt a tart crust for a friend who's going gluten free. The tart didn't work out so well, but the macaroons from the recipe on the back of the bag? Yes, oh yes. They definitely worked out.

Not to be mistaken with the big, chewy, cakey and often chocolate-dipped macaroons I grew up with, or the adorable French macaroons (aka macarons) that look like little sandwich cookies from heaven, these macaroons from Bob's Red Mill are really terrific in their own right.

The batter starts its life as a meringue (whipped egg whites and sugar), so they are super light and chewy. But they also pack this incredible, surprising chocolate punch – dark chocolate in this case, because I subbed dark chocolate for the semi-sweet chocolate chips the original recipe calls for. So good.

Want the recipe?

Oh, but first. No matter how pleading their look, no matter how puppy-dog adorable they can make their adorable puppy-dog eyes, please keep the dark chocolate macaroons away from the canine units.

Poor Angel. Sometimes they just don't know what's (very, very) bad for them.

Okay, here's the recipe.

Wait! One more thing! I forgot to tell you how easy these are to make. So easy.

Okay, for reals, here you go!

Dark Chocolate Macaroons

Adapted from the Bob's Red Mill recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 6 ounces of dark chocolate, broken into pieces, melted, and cooled slightly
• Powdered (aka: Confectioner's) sugar for dusting, if you like

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Add salt to egg whites, and beat with a hand mixer until almost stiff.

    

3. Slowly add sugar, beating slowly. Continue beating until egg whites are stiff enough to form peaks. It kind of looks like less-thick marshmallow cream.

   

4. Add almond extract.
5. Carefully fold in coconut

   

6. Stir in melted chocolate until well incorporated.

   

    

7. Spray cookie sheets with Pam or line with parchment paper.
8. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto cookie sheets.

   

9. Bake for 15 minutes.
10. Allow to cool slightly, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Sprinkle with confectioner's (powdered) sugar, if desired.
12. And enjoy!

—

Oh, and here's another one to file under The Hazel Bloom Disasters. I tried to make these with white chocolate, too. Would you like to see how those turned out?

Yeah, I think I have a teensy bit of perfecting to do on that particular version. Stay tuned.