coconut almond macaroons

Why: Because I love coconut!

What: For other recipes I've had sweetened coconut around and have been snacking on it here and there. It's just so tasty! I had tons of egg whites left over from the crack pie so I decided to make macaroons. I started looking at recipes online but ended up using the recipe on the bag. My dentist (a very chatty fellow) made the point that the recipe on the packaging is going to be the best because they want it to showcase their product. It was a good recipe, with a few tweaks. I added about 1 extra egg white and I added about 2 tablespoons of almond paste instead of almond extract. Much to my disappointment, it didn't have much almond flavor, needed much more almond paste. They were tasty by themselves but a light drizzle of chocolate made them even better because it broke up the flavor. These would be super simple to convert into a homemade almond joy, one of my favorites. Annnd, best part, these are practically diet treats because there isn't any oil or butter.

My adaptations:

• 1 (14 ounce) package sweetened coconut (5 1/3 cups)
• 2/3 cup sugar (minus 1 tbsp or so)
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 egg whites
• 5 tbsp almond paste, chopped into tiny pieces
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 
  
• 1- Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in vanilla extract, egg whites (recipe says not to whip but I mixed to small peaks, I don't think it made a difference either way) and almond paste until well blended. Drop by tablespoonful (I used cookie scoop lightly packed) onto sprayed parchment paper, MUST SPRAY! Continue to stir as you scoop as the egg whites might settle at bottom of the bowl.
• 2. Bake 325F for 20 minutes or until edges of cookies are golden brown. Leave on pan until cool enough to transfer.
• 3. Melt some semi sweet chocolate in microwave or double boiler (careful not to burn it) and drizzle over top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.