This is the real thing. Parchment paper is a must here. I've tried adding a teaspoon of almond extract for a change with great sucess. I like to refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours which results in a much rounder macaroon that can be dipped in chocolate.
The ease of making these decadent cookies belies how wonderful they are: Blue Ribbon Winner for sure! My husband, who likes coconut only in very small doses and only toasted, could not stop eating them. I found that the recipe yielded 18 cookies that were larger than golf balls and that took the full 15 minutes to bake. Also, a 14-ounce package of coconut equaled the 5 1/2 cups. Perfect! Thanks for sharing.
This is a great easy recipe. I used a Matfer silicon pad on my cookie sheet which eliminated any sticking and burning. Athough the recipe doesn't specify it, I HIGHLY suggest using sweetened coconut. Also, I subsituted one of the tsps of vanilla extract for almond extract, which worked great. I definitely suggest mixing the extract(s) into the condensed milk before adding to the coconut mix - that way you are sure the flavor is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Molding the cookies was a quite a sticky process, so I just dipped a couple of fingers in a little bit of water as I patted down the dough so that I could get the cookies into a solid shape and still be able to get them onto the cookie sheet in one piece. As an aside, I have made chocolate macaroons before by adding a square (or two) of melted unsweetened bakers chocolate to the condensed milk mix, and I am sure that would work for this recipe as well. Or you could try pressing a maraschino cherry into the top of each cookie - it makes for a very classy presentation - people love it!
Gift Idea: Shape coconut into small tablespoon-sized ovals/rectangles, then bake. Drizzle thin strips of chocolate, or dip cookie in chocolate. After cooling, slip into cupcake liners and stack inside plastic, festive "treat bags" & tie with ribbon.
I followed the recipe exactly as written, and am not at all disappointed. I did use sweetened flake coconut, since that was what I had in the house -- but I think that was the intent here, anyway. I also refrigerated the dough for a couple of hours before scooping it out (didn't intend to, just had to stop for a kid emergency). These turned out great. Didn't stick to the parchment. Were great warm from the oven, and almost better the 2nd day. The only thing I think I'll change next time is to bake them a little longer (as others have suggested) to bring out more of the toasted flavor.
After many trials and errors for the perfect macaroon, this is it! I have had more compliments on these cookies. I do melt about 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of shortening and then drizzle them over the cookie using a plastic zip-type storage bag with the corner cut off. Very, very impressive. They store very well, also.
We have a tradition of always making these macaroons at Christmas. They're really great! We use 1 t. vanilla and 1 t. almond extract as others have suggested. Also, mixing the extracts and condensed milk first and then adding it to the coconut mixture makes the whole process much easier. Third, make sure to use parchment on your cookie sheets. Finally, top with red or green candied cherry halves to make them more festive. The taste is fantastic and they look great on your cookie plates!
I have never made Coconut Macaroons before so I made 2 different recipes: This one and the one in a Betty Crocker recipe book. There was quite a bit of difference in texture and taste. This recipe was good, but not great. It was hard on the outside and chewy within. The taste did taste a lot like the sweetened condensed milk. The Betty Crocker recipe called for whipped egg whites and other goodies and was just better all the way around. It browned really nice and tasted unbelievable...so, sorry this one is just okay.
This is a wonderful Macaroon! I used 1 and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla and 1/2 tsp. of almond extract. reduced the oven temp to 325 and made the cookies a little smaller and baked for 15-17 minutes. I got 30 cookies out of it. Used a small cookie scoop. Yummmmmmmmy! Can't wait to share them with the ladies at work. This is one of the better recipes I have stumbled upon. Easy too!
