Triple Coconut Macaroons

Coconut macaroons are one of my favorite cookies. I grew up making them by whipping egg whites and sugar, folding in coconut, dropping on baking sheets and topping each with a candied cherry. This version is similar, but uses three types of coconut in the mixture: both sweetened and unsweetened coconut, as well as coconut cream (thicker than coconut milk) to add a more complex, yet subtle, coconut flavor. The coconut cream keeps the cookies super moist. These can be entirely gluten free, or you can add a couple tablespoons of flour to the mixture before baking. Make them any size you like, and just keep an eye on them in the oven for even browning. If you want an extra fancy touch, dip the bases or drizzle the tops with chocolate.


RECIPE: Triple Coconut Macaroons
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated, January 2000
makes about 4 dozen 1-inch cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup cream of coconut (not coconut milk; find near non-alcoholic margarita mix)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups sweetened coconut
3 cups unsweetened coconut


DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together coconut cream, corn syrup, egg whites, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl. Whisk well to combine. In a separate bowl, stir together both kinds of coconut and the flour. Break apart any clumps of coconut. Add the dry mixture to the egg mixture and mix well to combine. Chill for about 15-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Form tablespoon-sized mounds of coconut mixture on prepared baking sheets; place about 2-inches apart. If mixture seems pretty soupy and you have a hard time molding into balls or pyramids, add more coconut to help even out the consistency.

Bake about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through cooking. Cookies should be browned on tops, but still chewy and moist inside. Let cool on pans for a couple minutes to harden slightly, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.

STORAGE:
Store cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature.