Coconut Macaroons

SCD Coconut Macaroons

Who doesn't love a good cookie? Macaroons are ridiculously easy to make, and if you're a fan of coconut, you'll sure love these little guys. Especially because they're basically scd anyway, so swap out the honey for sugar (more or less), and get cooking!










Ingredients:

3 egg whites
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 2/3 cup shredded coconut

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300ºF. Separate the yolks from the egg whites (hollandaise sauce anyone?). Place egg whites in a bowl and beat until they peak. While continually beating, slowly add honey, vanilla, and salt until evenly mixed and creamy. Pour in shredded coconut and fold until uniformly mixed. Drop batter onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 min. Top should just begin to brown and bottom should be cooked, but not burned. Let cool for 5-10 min before removing.

Notes:

*Shredded coconut is pretty easy to find. THIS IS NOT COCONUT FLOUR. You want finely shredded coconut. Imagine taking a carrot to a small cheese grater. About that size.
*Peaking egg whites is really easy. Beat with an electric mixer until the egg whites turn from clear to white. You'll know it's done when you go to pull out the electric mixer, and peaks form (thus, it's called peaking egg whites. Mind. BLOWN!)
*Folding in coconut, piece of cake! Pour in the coconut, then using a rubber scraper, cut the mixture in half. Scrape around the bottom of the bowl, up the side, and "fold" back on top. Then rotate the bowl slightly (1/8 a turn) and repeat. Cut in half; scrape down, around, and back on top; rotate. This allows you to keep the air in the egg whites as you mix in the coconut.
*There are lots of ways to separate egg whites from the yolks. I crack the egg shell right down the middle. Then pass the yolk back and forth from one egg shell half to the other, allowing the whites to run out of the shell. Keep passing back and forth until all the white is separated.
*Still lost on how to fold or separate egg whites? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4vbktd-PM (Don't use cream of tarter, and they really don't need to be at room temperature. Too much work. And I GUESS you can do it by thirds; I don't. :D)
*Makes about 12 - 14 cookies.
*Originally from http://www.scdrecipe.com/recipes-cookie/lucys-macaroons/

Coconut Milk

Staple. Make it. Love it. Be pro at it. Especially because it's practically impossible to find legal coconut milk. Most have guar gum added to prevent the cream from separating from the water.

Ingredients:

2 cups coconut flakes
4 cups water
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup honey

Instructions:

Soak the coconut in the water for 1-2 hours. Blend the coconut water mixture until it's very fine. Strain the pulp out of the blended mixture. Add the vanilla and honey and mix well.

Notes:

*If you're in a bit of a bind, you don't have to soak the coconut. What soaking does is draws out the flavor so that more coconut flavor ends up in the water and less in the pulp.
*Coconut flakes can be bought at local organic food stores. The coconut doesn't have to be organic, but they tend to carry more exotic substances like that.
*Best fresh. Refrigeration causes the cream to separate from the water. It's alright, just mix it up a little bit and it'll be good to go again.