Holiday Cookies - Flourless Coconut Macaroons
HOLIDAY COOKIES - GLUTEN FREE, FLOURLESS COCONUT MACAROONS
Back in the day when I was a single girl, the approach of the Christmas Holidays sent me into a baking mode. A couple of weeks before the Holidays, I baked up a storm of cookies that would be enjoyed by family and friends visiting my parents house throughout the festive season. I would also bring cookies to work where they would be in an open canister for anyone who would visit my office to sample. I can't tell you how great it was to sit around the table with parents, grandmother, aunts, cousins and siblings, after we had finished our dinner and have a great time playing canasta; yes I love to play canasta and today it seems as though it is a lost art; or poker; I am not that good at it; trivial pursuit; I am really good at this one; all while enjoying a nice cup of fresh brewed coffee paired with the cookies I had baked earlier. They certainly were a hit with everyone.
I used to bake chocolate chip and pecan chocolate chip cookies and flourless coconut macaroons topped with halved green and red cherries and pecans. By the time New Year's day came and went, all the goodies would be gone and since I was still in the Holiday mood or at least did not want to let go of it, I would go and bake some more. Those were family, fun filled, carefree days that I will always cherish. These types of memories are what makes us all want to continue making new memories and traditions and I shall carry on baking and sharing and pass them on to my young family.
This is a Gluten Free recipe so it can easily be given as a present to anyone you know who has a Gluten allergy.
INGREDIENTS:
1 14 ounce package of Baker's Brand sweetened, flaked coconut
1 14 ounce can of Baker's Brand or Eagle Brand condensed milk
1 teaspoon of pure almond extract:
TOPPINGS:
1/2 Cup of halved green and red cherries
1/2 Cup of halved pecans
4 1 ounce squares of unsweetened Baker's Brand baking chocolate - 100% cacao content - for drizzling and/or dipping
1/2 Teaspoon of butter - to melt with chocolate.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper, macaroons can be very sticky but they will not stick to this paper.
In large bowl combine the condensed milk with the almond extract, blend well. Next, mix in the coconut a little bit at a time to make sure the coconut is well coated with the condensed milk.
Next, drop the coconut mixture by the generous tablespoon, teaspoon or half-teaspoonfuls on the cookie sheet, depending on how big you want your cookies to be. Top each cookie with a halved cherry; green and red cherries make the cookies look very festive; or halved pecan or leave them plain. Place in oven in the middle rack for anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes or until they turn a nice tan colour. Keep watch over the cookies because they can go from tan to burned in a flash.
You can slide the parchment paper from the cookie sheet directly on to a cooling rack. Once completely cooled, you can drizzle or dip the plain ones in chocolate and have four different type of toppings to your cookies.
CHOCOLATE TOPPING:
In your microwave using the melt mode, use a microwave safe bowl to melt the chocolate squares with the butter and stir* the mix halfway through and at the end so the chocolate is nice and shiny. * A short version of tempering the chocolate. You can also melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pot with boiling water - don't let the water touch your glass bowl as it will burn the chocolate - stirring occasionally to temper chocolate and dissolve squares evenly.
While the chocolate is still hot, use a spoon to drizzle it over your macaroons or dip them halfway through. I find smaller macaroons lend themselves better to the half dip. Cool completely in your parchment paper. Store in a glass jar or in a tin. They will keep longer in the fridge but may turn a bit hard so leave them out on a plate an hour or so before serving, you don't want family and friends to have a hard time eating these yummy macaroons. Happy eating !!!!!
Yields: 3 dozen large. 4 dozen smaller. or 5 or 6 dozen bite size macaroons.