Thursday, December 8, 2011

Detox Blonde Macaroons


Coconut is one of my favourite things. Fresh coconut, dried, coconut milk, yum. And I've been wanting to make some variation of these vegan macaroons for too long. They're truly delicious. Lots of coconut flavour, incredibly soft, a bit chewy. Gluten free too! The original recipe had almond extract but I detest that fake almond flavour so just added more vanilla. I gave a bunch away and kept the rest in the freezer, and yes they are amazing from the freezer too. Oh and I made my own coconut butter! (Which is just pureeing unsweetened shredded coconut. Magic.)

I'm sending these to the cookie blog hop.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Coconut Creme Brulee
Coconut Shortbread
Coconut Madeleines
Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake
Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Detox Blonde Macaroons
Adapted from Oh She Glows who adapted from Healthy Hoggin

Yield ~22 macaroons

2 2/3 cups shredded unsweetened coconut (or 1 cup coconut butter)
2 (additional) cups shredded unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment. In a food processor, process 2 and 2/3 cups of shredded coconut for about 5-8 minutes until coconut butter forms. You will have to keep scraping down the sides of the bowl. Alternatively, you can use 1 cup of store bought coconut butter.

2. Once you have made the coconut butter, mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Scoop about 1-2 tbsp of dough onto a baking sheet. You don’t have to leave much room in between as they do not spread out. Bake one sheet at a time for 25-28 minutes at 300F. Watch them closely after 22-23 minutes. The bottoms of my macaroons were golden in colour.

4. Allow the macaroons to sit for 30 minutes so they can firm up. If you do not do this, the macaroons will crumble, so this step is crucial! Store in the fridge or freezer.

15 comments:

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Wow detox cookies?? Too good to be true ;p

Kim said...

this is vegan and GF!! my kind of eats. thanks for linking up to our #cookielove bloghop!

Laura at The Art of Cooking Real Food said...

Wow - what a great recipe! My family will love this one!

Joanne said...

I am SUCH a coconut lover! And...these are good for me? So I should eat them at EVERY meal? Will do.

janet @ the taste space said...

Way to go on the macaroon front! I've never tried making my own coconut butter, but glad it worked for you. It gives me hope because I know it can be finicky. :)

Andrea V. said...

wow that looks sooo good! And I can't believe that the recipe is so simple. I've always wanted to make macaroons...glad I stumbled upon your blog! New follower here :)

Teanna said...

I LOVE COCONUT! Those are awesome!

Eileen said...

Macaroons! Yes please! One of my friends was going to bake a batch and dip them halfway in chocolate, & that sounds great, but the classic all-coconut one is tempting as well...

Johanna GGG said...

love coconut, but am a little dubious about coconut oil - but I would be happier to make my own as I find if I buy it I don't use it much - and I love macaroons

Amy said...

Looks delicious! I really love coconut.

Hannah said...

Talk about an intense and pure coconut experience! I love that there's practically nothing more to these cookies than just coconut. Sounds perfect for any sort of food restrictions, thus making it an excellent gift option, too. :)

Genevieve said...

I LOVE coconut too...I've made similar macaroons before, but these ones look really good! I would prefer the vanilla over almond extract too

kickpleat said...

I love coconut a lot too! I love that these are vegan and I'll totally be making some for the holidays. I love that these are good from the freezer - because frozen cookies are SO good.

Anonymous said...

scrumptious.... added to my go-to recipies :)

Anonymous said...

I made these for my husband after trying to find some vegan macaroons for his Christmas Stocking. He loved them so much he said to me "please make these everyday for me for the rest of my life" haha! These are SOOOOO good!! Thank you!
-Tracy