March 27 & 28 - Chocolate Macaroons

Coming Down With Something...

I think I'm getting sick, which sucks.  I'm not sure who I got it from, but I can feel it starting to sneak into me.  This could explain my lack of energy all day yesterday (or it could be laziness).   But I'm getting some flemminess.  Ugh.  Why this week?    Since I was playing shut in yesterday, I don't have any good stories....sorry. 

THE RECIPE

Ingredients: 

Chocolate: $2.29

Egg whites: had

Salt: had

Sugar: had

Vanilla extract: had

Coconut: $1.89

Total: $4.18

I have to say, I have never made a chocolate coconut macaroon before.  Sure, I've made the regular coconut ones, but chocolate??  My first thought was, is this going to work?  My second was, how many can I eat before getting sick?

Obviously, from the picture, these cookies did turn out.  I'm kind of amazed by them.  They've got an outside meringue crunchiness and an inside of a chewy brownie.   They're pretty good.

THE RESULTS

FAST:  Prep took a little while with the melting of the chocolate and the beating of the egg whites. (About 20 minutes).  Add another 20 minutes of cooking time, 10 min  for the cookies to cool and you can have these cookies done and in your mouth in about 50 minutes.

EASY:  I'm going to have to say moderate difficulty.  The microwaving of the chocolate was pretty easy, just make sure to put the chocolate in a clean DRY bowl and use a clean DRY spoon.  If you get any water into your chocolate, it will seize up and make this recipe near impossible.  The beating of the egg whites can be a little intimidating.  Make sure you don't over beat them.  MY TRICK: When they get thick and glossy, turn the bowl upside down, if things start to slip out, beat some more.  If the whites don't move while they're upside down, they're ready.  Also, make sure you fold very carefully, you do not want to overfold and deflate your egg whites.

FRESH:  The take on the recipe is pretty fresh.  The cookies themselves taste like chocolate and coconut.  No real crisp, clean flavors.

OVERALL:  Its a pretty good recipe.  I'd like to play around with it again sometime to experiment.  Brian likes black forest, so I want to see if I can maybe throw some dried cherries or cherry extract into the mix.  Maybe cut some of the coconut?  Also, I was thinking of cutting the coconut into smaller pieces.  Maybe add another egg white?   So many possibilities, so little time.

Okay...Monday I am OFF and then we start Easter week.  My first easter in a long time not at a restaurant.  It's going to be exciting.  I can finally enjoy this holiday!  Tuesday is a chicken recipe.   See ya then!