Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate or Butterscotch
If you love Mounds Bars, allow me to introduce you to their cookie cousins. These nearly guilt free little cookies (until you add the chocolate or butterscotch, that is) are just the thing for an energy boost after a hike in the woods, and are just as comfy on a pretty dessert plate in front of the Christmas tree. They freeze beautifully, so you can keep several on hand for snack or entertainment emergencies! This recipe has been adapted from Judy Rosenberg's 'Rosie's Bakery Chocolate-Packed, Jam Filled, Butter-Rich No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book'. Everybody should have a copy.
Ingredients
- FOR THE MACAROON COOKIES
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 8 large egg whites
- 12 tablespoons unbleached flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 6 cups shredded coconut
- FOR THE CHOCOLATE or BUTTERSCOTCH GLAZE
- 8 ounces 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or butterscotch chips
- 2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil
Instructions
- FOR THE COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl or electric mixer bowl, combine sugar, egg whites, flour and salt. Beat until well mixed, about one minute in an electric mixer.
- Mix in the coconut. Continue to fold until all liquid is absorbed, and when you run a rubber spatula along the bottom of the bowl, you don’t see liquid pool. (If you skip this step, you will have a gloppy puddle at the base of your cookie when it bakes – yuck).
- If you have an ice cream scoop, use one scoop per cookie. Arrange on baking sheet. You can place these cookies pretty close together, since they do not tend to spread during baking.
- Bake for about 15 minutes. The best way to tell they are done is to look at the tops of the cookies; they should begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest for at least five minutes on the baking sheet. Place on cooling rack and cool completely.
- Place sheets of waxed paper under cookies/cooling rack to prepare to drizzle chocolate.
- FOR THE GLAZE
- Combine chocolate or butterscotch chips and oil into glass measuring cup or other microwave-safe bowl.
- Melt chocolate chips in microwave. Processes on high at 20-second intervals until nearly melted, then remove from microwave and stir until entire mixture has melted.
- Place chocolate in squeeze bottle OR use a wire whisk to drizzle melted chips over the cookies, OR dip the cookie rumps into the bowl of melted chips OR dip half of the cookie into the melted chip mixture and drizzle the other half, OR…(you get the idea – use your imagination!)
- If drizzling: Working in a zigzag motion, drizzle chocolate over the top of cookies, first one direction, than the other.
- Allow to sit at room temperature until chocolate has set (this can take quite a bit of time). To speed up the process, I place the cookies on a plate or cookie sheet if they fit, and place in the freezer until the chocolate sets up.
- Cooks Notes
- If you freeze these cookies in layers, be sure to place waxed paper between each layer to prevent chocolate from smearing and chipping.
- If your chocolate seems too runny, let sit for a while to firm up before drizzling, or add additional chocolate chips if mixture is still warm enough to melt them.
