Crisp, golden and toasty on the outside, slightly chewy in the centre – coconut macaroons are the BEST. If you've never tried them you are in for such a treat.
They're nice and light, making them the perfect summery bake - and getting the kids stuck into baking is a great way of making these loooong school holidays fly by.
They may look simple but there's a bit of a knack to getting these little coconut beauties right. I guarantee there’ll be no complaints if you have to try them again and again, just to be completely sure…
Makes 14 large macaroons
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
115g icing sugar
250g desiccated coconut
You'll also need an ice cream scoop
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170C and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with the icing sugar for around eight minutes until it’s very pale and thick. The consistency should be slightly gloopier than double cream.
If you have an electric or stand mixer, use this rather than a hand whisk – it’ll make the job a lot easier (and less messy!).
Stir in the desiccated coconut and mix thoroughly.
Test the consistency of the macaroon mix by picking up a teaspoonful and rolling it into a ball in your hands. These quantities should work, but whisking egg whites is a very imprecise science and you want to get it right.
If it’s too dry, add one more egg white. If it’s too wet, add more coconut. Do this a little at a time and mix in between each addition. Once it all sticks together, it’s ready to go.
Use the ice cream scoop (or a pair of dessert spoons) to pick up blobs of macaroon mix and dollop them onto the baking sheet, around 3cm apart.
Bake for around 25 minutes, or until the tops are a just starting to brown. You may need to rotate the tray halfway through cooking to even out the heat.
Transfer to a cooling rack to crisp up and serve.