Christmas is one month away. That means the holiday baking season has begun! For me, that means pulling Maida Heatter’s cookbooks out and I always begin with these chewy, chocolatey cookies!
Virtual Cookie Exchange 2018
This season, I am blessed to be one of 12 bloggers taking part in the Virtual Cookie Exchange. We’ll each be posting our favorite Christmas cookie recipe to share with you! I love baking so picking my favorite cookie was a challenge but my first introduction to Maida Heatter years ago was discovering her recipe for Chocolate Coconut Macaroons. I had planned on beginning a baking series baking from Maida’s cookbooks – so selecting these was a no-brainer to begin the series.
Who is Maida Heatter, you ask
Maida Heatter (pronounced May-da Heat-ter) is the author of nine cookbooks. Not cookbooks but baking books. She, to me, was the first author who made me feel like she was present in the kitchen with me as I baked her recipes. Like a grandma teaching you her baking secrets. Her recipes are more like mini-stories, with her introductions to recipes little glimpses into her life. I loved reading her cookbooks as much as I loved baking from them (except after baking, I could eat my efforts!).
Let’s bake…
Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
Preheat your oven to 325. Line your two baking sheets each with a Silpat. Gather your ingredients (the list is quite short for such great results).
- 4 oz Baker’s German’s Sweet chocolate
- 1 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 2 egg white, room temperature
- Pinch of salt (1/8 tsp)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 7 oz (2 2/3 cups loosely packed) sweetened coconut
In the top of a double boiler, melt your chocolates together, stirring to ensure complete melting. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In the bowl of a mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt until they hold a firm peak when the beaters are raised. On low speed, add the sugar 1-2 Tbsp at a time, pausing about 10 seconds between additions. Add the vanilla. Increase the speed to high and beat for 5 minutes more until the meringue is very stiff.
Reduce the speed to low and add the cooled chocolate, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl. Beat only until mixed. You don’t want to deflate the whites.
Fold in the coconut gently.
Place rounded teaspoonful mounds on the Silpat-lined baking sheet. Place the cookies about 1-inch apart on the baking sheet, forming 15 cookies per sheet.
Bake for 16 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to bake once to insure even baking (this is always a good step when baking with two sheet pans!). When the macaroons are done they should feel dry on the outside but will remain soft in the centers.
Transfer the macaroons to a rack to cool, using a wide spatula. Try to provide an elevated space for them to have adequate space underneath to dry properly.
You should have 26-30 cookies depending upon the size you created.
Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange 2018
Today, several of us are posting our favorite cookie recipes for you and tomorrow the Blog Hop will wrap up with 5 additional fabulous recipes. Make sure to click on the following links to see what these lovely ladies have to offer!
· Amanda shared her Gooey Butter Cookiesat Cozy Tasty Home
Gabrielle has Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies at LifeWith The Correas
· Dana shared her Sugar Cookies at St.Martha’s Lens
· Jersey shared her Molasses Cookies at FarmhouseBasic Collection
· Anja shared her Healthy Classic Cinnamon Star Cookies at OurGabled Home
· Amy shared her Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies at EssentiallyHandmade
I’ll be back tomorrow with links to the ladies participating on Tuesday – you’re gonna wanna see what they have to offer! Tuesday’s yummy offerings include:
Brianne’s Best Sugar Cookies at Homemade On Our Homestead
Rachael’s 100 Santa’s Cookie Recipe at Australian WorkingMama
Missy’s Yummy, Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip at RamblingRose Farmhouse
Misty’s Pepparkakor Gingersnaps at OurGrace Filled Journey
Lyndsy’s KrumKake at TreasuredOak Springs
Callie’s Checkerboard Cookies at ThisCorbett Life
Kelly sharing her Grandma’s Cream Cheese Cookies at TheWillow Mama
May you enjoy a blessed Christmas season!
Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
Chewy, chocolatey cookies from Maida Heatter
Ingredients
- 4 oz Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate
- 1 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 2 egg white room temperature
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 7 oz shredded, sweetened coconut
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 325.
-
Line two baking sheets with a Silpat.
-
In the top of a double boiler, melt your chocolates together, stirring to ensure complete melting. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
-
In the bowl of a mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt until they hold a firm peak when the beaters are raised. On low speed, add the sugar 1-2 Tbsp at a time, pausing about 10 seconds between additions. Add the vanilla. Increase the speed to high and beat for 5 minutes more until the meringue is very stiff.
-
Reduce the speed to low and add the cooled chocolate, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl. Beat only until mixed; you don’t want to deflate the whites.
-
Fold in the coconut gently.
-
Place rounded teaspoonful mounds on the Silpat-lined baking sheet. Place the cookies about 1-inch apart on the baking sheet, forming 15 cookies per sheet.
-
Bake for 16 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to bake once to insure even baking (this is always a good step when baking with two sheet pans!). When the macaroons are done they should feel dry on the outside but will remain soft in the centers.
-
Transfer the macaroons to a rack to cool, using a wide spatula. Try to provide an elevated space for them to have adequate space underneath to dry properly.
-
You should have 26-30 cookies depending upon the size of cookie you mounded.
Kelly says
I love macaroons! And the fact that these are chocolate too is over the top! I can’t wait to make these!
Misty says
These sound amazing! I love coconut!