Coconut Macaroons
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The only thing better than peanut butter is coconut, well at least in my opinion. I'm sure not too many people will agree with me on that. But everyone will agree that these are the best coconut macaroons I've ever made. I love macaroons, and every time I make them it reminds me of my brother Juan who loves them too. So this recipe is dedicated to my brother :) The original recipe for these cookies came from the Taste of Home Cookbook, which is my cooking and baking bible. I love it, and use it so much I had to get my niece Ashley one when she got married and moved to North Carolina. And since I'm on dedications, I want to say this whole blog is dedicated to my niece Ashley. I remember how it was for me when I first started being a "homemaker" blogs, cooking websites, and cookbooks were my life. Now here I am sharing the recipes I developed throughout the years with other "homemakers". It was such a cool feeling to know she was the first to make my Oowey Goowey Peanut Butter Muffins recipe from this blog, and that her and Taylor loved them. She has the same passion for creating as I do. My recipes are simple and delicious and if Ashley can make them successfully that means everyone else can. Ha ha just kidding Ashley. So since these are Juan's favorite, and Ashley is his daughter I hope she makes some of these and sends them to him (hint hint). :)
This recipe is a variation of the original recipe as most of my recipes are. They are copy cat version of the best macaroons I have ever had from Hungry Lu's in Ocean Beach. Hungry Lu's macaroons are huge, fluffy, and delicious, a perfect mix of chewy and cake like cookie. I have been making macaroons for years and they were always really good, but when I tried Hungry Lu's it changed my life. It became my goal to figure out the secret to making them so fluffy and yummy. Daniel and I always make sure to go there when we go to Sea World, or are in the San Diego area. But being that the deli is an hour away from where we live, we don't get to have them very often. Last weekend we were so excited about going to Sea World because we knew that meant we would have Hungry Lu's and of course we had to get some of their delicious cookies, and sub sandwiches. Determined to finally discover the secret I examined their macaroon like I was doing an experiment on it. I poked it, squished it, and tried to figure out every single flavor I could taste. I figured out some of the secrets and made them right away. Its close, but no cigar.. I still need to figure out the last secret but what I have discovered so far makes them amazing so I had to share. These are fluffy, coconuty, yummy, and super easy to make.
Secret #1: The consistency of the coconut
The original recipe just calls for shredded coconut, so I would always just use the coconut straight out of the bag which made the cookies look very chunky. That was the first thing I noticed about Hungry Lu's' macaroons was that they don't look chunky, and don't have big pieces of coconut in them like mine did but they still tasted very coconuty. So I increased the amount of coconut and shredded it smaller in the wonderful food processor Janette got this Christmas after years of wanting of one. If you don't have a food processor you can chop the coconut with a knife, but make sure to do it on surface you can move directly over the mixing bowl so get all of the coconut. The piece should be small, kind of like grains of rice.
Secret #2: Cake flour
Ever since the first time I used cake flour it became a staple in my pantry. I always wondered why recipes asked for it and didn't just use All Purpose flour. But when I realized how much of a difference it makes in the consistency of baked products I started using it for almost everything I bake. Usually if you substitute cake flour for regular flour you're suppose to add 2 tablespoons of AP flour to it to balance it out, otherwise it will make things very crumbly. But I didn't add any AP flour to these and they turned out great. The cake flour is what makes them extra fluffy, but AP flour will work too. Winco or any other store that sells product in bulk carry cake flour along with pretty much everything you need for baking. Its cheaper and easier to control the amount you get this way. I get mine at Winco, its usually about 34cents per pound. I use so much of it that I get a 10 pound bag for $3.40. I do this for regular sugar, AP flour, and powdered sugar. That way if you only need 2 cups or you're on a budget you don't have to buy a whole bag. Or if you need a lot like me, you can get a lot and always have it available in your pantry.
Secret #3: Piping Bag
Hungry Lu's' macaroons are big and look perfect. Shredding the coconut gives the cookie a smoother texture instead of being chunky like my cookies used to be. The batter is less chunky and easier to squeeze through a piping bag fitted with a really big star or flower tip like the one above. Any tip that will give it a raised edge works, because the edges brown first and make the cookies look prettier. Using the piping bag not only makes them look prettier, it also makes it easier to control the size and how high you make them. I didn't use a tip in the picture at that top, I just used a bag without a tip and concentrated on making them bigger than I usually do. They were a lot bigger than they look in the picture, but I found I like them better when they're smaller. But the bigger ones are a good snack to share, or to eat half and save the rest for later, like I usually do with Hungry Lu's' cookies.
Secret #4: unknown...
But I will figure it out and then they will be perfect! But these are extremely delicious I'll keep trying to figure it out just to eat them everyday :)
 Coconut Macaroons
Ingredients:
2 and 2/3 Cups Flaked coconut shredded smaller in food processor or chop by hand
(you can add a bit more coconut if you want them more coconuty)
2/3 Cup Granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons or 1/4 Cup + 3 Tablespoons Cake flour (AP flour works too)
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
4 Egg whites
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325degrees.
In a bowl combine coconut, sugar, cake flour, and salt. Stir in egg whites, and vanilla, mix well. Fill a piping bag fitted with a big star tip, or any other tip with a raised edge. Pipe desired size cookies, or drop rounded tablespoon fulls onto greased cookie sheet about two inches a part to give enough room for spreading.
Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remember cookies keep cooking when they're on the baking sheet so cool them on a cookie rack.
Enjoy!!!
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