Macaroon Mania! (Part 4 of 4 - Chewy Chocolate Macaroons)

Part 4: Chewy Chocolate Macaroons

And here is the end of our macaroon mania! These macaroons I had to give a try. They are so different than any other recipe I’d seen for a few reasons:
-They’re chocolate. Not drizzled, not dipped – full-on, in-your-face chocolate.
-They are cooked low and slow (250 for 45 minutes versus the typical 350 for 15-20 minutes)
-The contain flour
-There is no egg in this recipe


These macaroons were a cinch to make. But waiting for them to cook was absolute torture. Forty-five minutes seemed like an eternity to wait, especially once the kitchen started smelling of coconut and chocolate. Now that’s a lethal combination.


The payoff was worth it. The cookies are soft, and chewy, without being wet or sticky. These macaroons were divine. I was surprised too, because I was expecting to taste like a mounds bar, or just like a chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon. The chocolate had actually taken on a distinct ‘brownie’ taste, which really surprised me, but paired really well with the coconut.


I really recommend trying these. I never imagined I’d flip for such an unconventional macaroon, but it’s a winner. Why not try spicing up your typical Easter recipes?


Well, there you have it. Macaroon Mania. In the end, I do think the classic coconut macaroon won out, but just by a hair. The chewy chocolate coconut macaroon was amazing as well, and I could easily justify having one (or two) of each, because they’re so different. Alton’s were delicious, more like a coconut meringue than what I consider a macaroon, but everyone who enjoys coconut went nuts over these. The chocolate drizzled macaroons were good, and would be fabulous to make nests out of with chocolate eggs for kids, but I like having the coconut a little more broken down than it was in these cookies, not to mention I preferred the more sophisticated look of the other cookies.

Previously: Macaroon Mania! (Part 3 of 4 - Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons)

Chewy Chocolate Macaroons

From Cooke Madness

Ingredients

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

½ cup sifted cake flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups lightly packed flaked sweetened coconut

1 teaspoonvanilla extract

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 250°. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Melt unsweetened chocolate in microwave. Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with knife. Combine flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add coconut to flour mixture and toss well. Stir in melted chocolate, vanilla and condensed milk.

Drop the batter by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet. Bake at 250° for 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on pan or rack

Yield: 32 cookies (serving size: 1 cookie)

Macaroon Mania! (Part 3 of 4 - Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons)

Part Three: Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons

This recipe appealed to me for two main reasons:
The coconut is toasted before incorporating into the recipe
The egg whites are whipped into a meringue-like consistency before using, instead of just mixing everything together.


This one, like the first cookie, required a little more than a wooden spoon to make. While these were good, I’m not sure this is the first recipe I’d run to if I was craving a macaroon. I’d consider these more along the lines of a coconut-flavored meringue instead of a macaroon. But that doesn’t mean that all the coconut lovers in our house didn’t go crazy for them. These were some of the more popular cookies, despite not being a traditional macaroon. You never know if you don’t try.


Up Next: The exciting conlusion to Macaroon Mania! – Part Four: Chewy Chocolate Macaroons

Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons

From Alton Brown

Ingredients
4 large egg whites

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

12 ounces sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

2 (3 ounce) kosher milk chocolate bars, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place coconut on a baking sheet, spread out evenly and place in the oven.

Return to the oven every five minutes to stir the browning coconut. Once evenly browned, after about 15 minutes, remove the the oven and allow to cool.

In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment. whip egg whites and salt until they become white and begin to stiffen. Add sugar in 3 parts. Continue to whip until the egg whites are very stiff. Fold in toasted coconut.

On parchment lined cookie sheets, drop a teaspoon of the mixture leaving 1 to 2 inches around each cookie. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The outside should be golden brown but the insides should still be moist.

Place chocolate chunks in a heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water so that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water. Allow to melt. Stir until loose and creamy. Partially dip the macaroons in the chocolate then allow to cool and harden on a parchment lined sheet. You can place the pan of chocolate dipped cookies in the refrigerator to speed up the hardening process.

Macaroon Mania! (Part 2 of 4 - Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons)

Part Two: Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons

I was curious what making macaroons without the food processor would be like. But I couldn’t make them plain like the first ones, that would be too boring! So I decided to go with some Easter egg colors to make the plate a little more festive.


I liked that these went together easily, but I did notice that these looked a little more like dyed hay bales when I scooped them onto the baking sheet. Because all the little shreds of coconut were still whole, these macaroons were a little more fibrous than the first macaroons. These would be great to make little nests out of to hold chocolate eggs, but as far as taste and texture goes, the first macaroons were far superior.

Up Next: Macaroon Mania! – Part Three: Chocolate Dipped Toasted Coconut Macaroons
Previously: Macaroon Mania! - Part One: The Coconut Macaroon

Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons

From Baker’s Coconut. Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 (14 oz) Bag Shredded Coconut

2/3 c Sugar

6 Tbsp Flour

¼ tsp Salt

4 Egg Whites

1 tsp Almond Extract

Assorted Food Coloring

½ c Semi-Sweet Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour baking sheets; set aside. Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract until well blended. Divide mixture into separate bowls, add food coloring one drop at a time until you reach desired color.

2. Drop coconut mixture into 36 mounds, 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets, using about 1 tablespoonful of the coconut mixture for each mound. Bake 20 min. or until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.

3. To decorate with drizzled chocolate, place chocolate in a sandwich bag on a microwave safe dish and microwave in 30 second intervals moving the chocolate around between each interval until melted. Using scissors, cut the tip off the sandwich bag. The smaller your cut, the smaller the drizzle. Use the sandwich bag to pipe the chocolate back and forth over the macaroons until you reach the desired look.

Macaroon Mania! (Part 1 of 4 – The Coconut Macaroon)

With a week to go before Easter, I figured it might be fun to delve into some Easter goodies! For some reason, even with all the chocolate bunnies, Cadbury Crème eggs, jelly beans and assorted other Easter candy, I always look forward to the macaroons the most. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t ever turn down the opportunity to chomp the ears off of an unsuspecting chocolate bunny, or stuff myself to the gills with Jelly Bellys, but, if I want an Easter tradition that I can truly savor and enjoy, it’s the macaroon. I wanted to find a good macaroon recipe to share with my family and was not really surprised that an internet search for ‘macaroon recipe’ returned a ton of results. I was surprised, however, at the many different types of macaroons out there. Because I was intrigued by the results of my search, I pulled four macaroon recipes to try. Yes, four. And if you can believe it, these cookies were all made in one evening. I know, it’s crazy. But sometimes we do crazy things in the name of food.

Part One: Classic Macaroons

I figured the best place to start would be the beginning, with the cookie that started this process. The classic coconut macaroon. Just by hearing the word macaroon, I envision a very specific cookie. To me, a macaroon is creamy colored and slightly toasted on the outside, not sticky, and when you bite into it, you get the slight crispness on the outside coupled with a soft, melt-in-your-mouth center. It should have a slight chew, but if I can’t swallow it after about four or five bites, it is too chewy.


This recipe from Baking Bites fit the bill. The picture featured with the recipe look exactly like the cookies I was imagining, so I gave this recipe a try. Everything about making these cookies went pretty smoothly, I only had a slight issue when trying to put the cookies on the baking sheet. The cookies themselves are either very delicate, or else I manhandled them, because fell apart pretty easily as I was trying to spoon them out. A quick fix stuck them back together and then into the oven they went.


The end result was exactly what I envisioned a perfect macaroon. I had hit coconut bliss but, I wasn’t done. There were three more recipes that caught my attention, and I had to see if there were any macaroon versions I liked more than the original. And don't let the fact that you need a food processor discourage you - these are worth a little extra cleanup!


Up Next: Macaroon Mania! Part Two: Chocolate Drizzled Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

From Baking Bites

Ingredients

4 cups shredded, sweetened coconut (unsweetened is fine, too)

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp rum (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Place shredded coconut into a food processor bowl and pulse several times until coconut is finely chopped (not into coconut flour, but into approx. small, rice-sized bits).

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt until smooth. Whisk in cornstarch and rum. Stir in coconut, making sure the entire mixture is an even consistency.

Drop by rounded teaspoons (so roughly 2 tsp balls, if using a standard measure) onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden on the bottom and top.

Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 – 3 1/2 dozen

Linked to:

Coconut Rice Pudding

My mom loves rice pudding. I used to hate it. It always reminded me of what would be, I’d imagine, the texture of baby food. Creamy and smooth like a pudding, yet slightly chunky. I think it was the ‘chunks’ that threw me. Regular pudding, bread pudding, Yorkshire pudding – you name any other type of pudding, and I love it. It was just something about the texture of rice pudding that I couldn’t get past. I especially did not like the pre-packaged rice puddings, there always seemed to be an artificial aftertaste. While I still don’t love the pre-packaged containers of rice pudding, I must admit that I am now an avid lover of the homemade version. I prefer to eat mine warm, as it reminds me a little bit of kao thom or congee that we had in Thailand. Both are types of rice porridges but, more often than not, are savory instead of sweet.

I love the plain vanilla rice pudding, with a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg on top. This one spices up the classic by adding coconut milk to the mixture, making it super creamy and coconutty. It was pure bliss. Not exactly light on the waistline, though – which was a problem because the hubby does not eat coconut, meaning I had free reign over the rice pudding. A spoonful here, a spoonful there, and within a day, half of the bowl was gone.

Oops. I know why we have a treadmill now.

I enjoyed this a lot and will definitely make it again once it gets colder out. I can picture snuggling up in a blanket with a warm bowl of coconut rice pudding and just reminiscing about warmer times.

Coconut Rice Pudding
Adapted From Coconut and Lime

Ingredients:
1/3 cup white basmati rice
14 oz can coconut milk (not cream of coconut)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a small bowl soak rice in about 2/3 cup of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain rice. In a medium sized saucepan bring coconut milk, milk, rice, sugar, and salt to a boil, Reduce heat to low and simmer, for about 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should have cooked down to a thick, creamy texture. Delicious warm or chilled

Put the (Key) Lime (Cheesecake) in the Coconut (Tartcakes) and Eat 'Em All Up

Prompted by a contest by Coconut and Lime, I decided to try my hand at coming up with a recipe that incorporates both coconut and lime as key ingredients. I enjoy Black Bottom Cupcakes, but rarely do you see any variations on the chocolate base with chocolate-chip cheesecake-like filling. My quest was to make a coconut cupcake filled with a key lime cheesecake filling. Without getting into the gory details, I will say that the first batch was, without sugarcoating it, a disaster. Since I was experimenting, I decided to not only make my ‘creation’ but also the original version of a black bottom, as a ‘control’ if you will. I discovered a few things. Halving a wacky cake recipe doesn’t work – the vinegar and baking soda are in specific proportions in the original recipe and my cupcakes ballooned out of their respective tins, only to collapse in on themselves and never truly set up. I also found out I like chocolate a little too much. I forgot to adjust the amount of chocolate chips from the original recipe and the result was a melted chocolate pool in the bottom of each cupcake that I’m sure also contributed at least partially to the cupcake collapse. Finally, wacky cake is a thin batter meaning the coconut that I so lovingly toasted and mixed into the batter sunk straight to the bottom instead of remaining suspended like I had expected. Oops. I didn’t take pictures because I was too busy trying to mitigate the damage to my muffins tins. After a good two hour soak and scrub they are mostly back to normal.

After those unsuccessful trials in the kitchen, I took a new approach. I decided to ditch the wacky cake batter in favor of a true coconut cupcake and then spoon in the filling. Success! Well, mostly. The cupcake came out a little more dense than anticipated, but it was still good. It seemed like what you would get if a tart shell and cupcake had a love-child filled with key lime cheesecake. It wasn’t quite a cupcake because it wasn’t as fluffy as you’d expect, but it wasn’t a tart, either. The tartcake was born!

The hubs - who doesn’t like coconut – offered to be a taste-tester for me, but only had one bite because, go figure, he didn’t like that it tasted like coconut. He couldn’t even make it to the key lime filling. But don’t feel bad because he didn’t like the cupcake. There was some extra filling leftover, so I put that in a ramekin and baked it off for a little bit so he was able to get a crustless mini key lime cheesecake out of the deal. That, for the record, he did enjoy.

After having one, I am pleasantly surprised at my first black-bottom inspiration attempt. Just because it wasn’t exactly what I was envisioning didn’t make it any less delicious. A coconutty cupcake with a tangy, creamy key lime cheesecake filling.

Thanks to Coconut and Lime for hosting this contest, and even if I don’t win the contest, I’m a winner because I go the confidence to try something totally new, and to persevere even after my initial miserable failure! (Which is a miracle considering what a pain in the rear juicing those itty bitty key limes is! I’m glad I have my juicer!)

Next time I try these I may try a different cupcake recipe to see if the density was a result of the cupcake recipe or a result of adding in the cream cheese filling and consequently changing how a normal cupcake would have baked.

Put the (Key) Lime (Cheesecake) in the Coconut (Tartcakes)
Adapted From Domestic Diva Mysteriesand Cookie Madness

Filling
5 oz cream cheese
2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp key Lime Juice
1 Egg White
2 tsp Sour Cream

Cupcakes:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
¼ c milk and 1/3 cup milk, divided
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded coconut
½ tsp coconut extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in the cupcake pan.
Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth. Add the egg white and stir or beat on low speed just until mixed; stir in the sour cream and lime juice. Set aside.

Make the tartcake: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, shredded coconut, and salt, and mix with a fork.
Separate the egg. Beat the egg white until it forms gentle peaks, but isn't dry. Set aside.

Beat the egg yolk briefly, slow the mixer and add add ¼ c of milk. Slowly add some of the flour mixture. Alternate adding the liquids and the rest of the flour mixture.

Spoon one tablespoon of cheesecake mixture into each liner, making sure to sink the filling down a little into the cupcake.
Bake on center rack for 22-25 minutes.
Let cool in cupcake pan for 30 minutes and then transfer to the refrigerator to chill.

This made 11 cupcakes for me with a little filling leftover.