The Wannabe Chef: Dark Chocolate Macaroons

I have a love/hate relationship with coconut. The sweet flakes are a main ingredient in my favorite Girl Scout cookie, Caramel Delights. But show me a coconut cake and I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

Maybe it’s the paper-like texture that turns me off of certain foods that contain coconut…hence a cake topped with uncooked coconut. So I recently made coconut macaroons I found on Pinterest to see if baking was the key.

Thanks to dipping these macaroons in dark chocolate (the recipe calls for semi-sweet but I prefer dark), I could get past my distaste for the texture and add this recipe to my love list of coconut-related foods. Next time, I’ll try something that calls for finely chopping and baking – or toasting – the coconut to try and hide the texture but keep the delicious flavor.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons

For the cookies:

• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 large egg white
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3½ cups sweetened flaked coconut

For the chocolate dipping:

• 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• In a large bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, egg white, vanilla and salt until combined. Stir in the coconut until well blended.
• Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Form the cookies into loose haystacks with your fingertips, moistening your hands with water as necessary to prevent sticking.
• Bake, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are light golden brown, 15 to 2o minutes.
• Cool the cookies on the baking sheets until slightly set, about 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack with a wide metal spatula.
• Once the cookies are cooled to room temperature (about 30 minutes), line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Melt 8 ounces of the semi-sweet chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth. Remove from the heat; stir in the remaining 2 ounces chocolate until smooth.
• Holding a macaroon by its pointed top, dip the bottom and ½ inch up the sides in the chocolate; scrape off the excess chocolate and place the macaroon on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining macaroons.
• Refrigerate the macaroons until the chocolate sets, about 15 minutes.