Name: Coconut Macaroons
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes; 3 tablespoons sugar; 1 tablespoon flour; Pinch of salt; 1 large egg white (~1 1/8 ounces); 1/4 teaspoon almond extract; 1.5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (optional)

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No, not the French cookies, the other Coconut Macaroons that are made with shredded coconut flakes held together with just egg whites and sugar. They packed with golden brown toasted coconut flavor, and they’re a coconut lovers dream cookie!

Three golden coconut macaroons stacked on each other next to milk.

These are macaroons, not macarons! Macaroons with two o’s are super sweet dense little cookies made of just coconut flakes, sugar, egg whites, and a small amount of almond extract. Macarons are the delicate French cookies made out of almond flour. I have a no fail small batch macaron recipe on this site, if you like, though!

Why this coconut macaroons recipe is the best:

I grew up on macaroons, but it took me some time to learn to love and appreciate them.

Good coconut macaroons should be golden brown and crispy on all sides, especially the bottom. Avoid all-white macaroons at all costs! If you see one that is white after baking, it’s usually because they’re made with condensed milk. It’s not that I don’t love condensed milk in my Tres Leches cake, but in my opinion, it doesn’t belong in thees cookies. It makes them soggy and prohibits browning, and we want that toasted coconut flavor!
You can dip their little bottoms in chocolate, if you want to make them slightly fancier for gift-giving. They would be great in a cookie box around the holidays, or on the plate as one of the cookies for Santa!

Coconut macaaroons dipped in chocolate on the bottom on a marble counter.

Ingredients

Bowls of flakes, egg white, chopped chocolate, flour and sugar.

Coconut Flakes. One cup of sweetened coconut flakes. The coconut to use for this recipe is the bagged sweetened kind in the baking aisle, usually in the blue bag. Don’t use the desiccated (dried) coconut from the bulk bin because it doesn’t have any sugar and the recipe will not turn out the same way.
Sugar. Three tablespoons of granulated sugar to sweeten the mixture.
Flour. Just one tablespoon of flour to hold the coconut macaroon dough together.
Egg White. One egg white from one large egg. Reserve the egg yolk for another recipe.
Almond Extract. The smallest amount of almond extract (1/4 teaspoon) really brings out the coconut flavor, just trust me on this!
Chocolate (optional). It’s entirely optional, but if you would like to dip the bottom of each coconut macaroon in chocolate, chop up 1.5 ounces of semisweet chocolate, melt it on LOW in the microwave or a double boiler, and dip each coconut macaroon.

How to Make Coconut Macaroons

Clear bowl with egg white, flour, sugar, and almond extract.

White, flaky wet cookie dough in a clear bowl before baking.

Combine the coconut, sugar, flour, egg white, and almond extract in a medium bowl.

Mix very well by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon (no hand mixers here!)

Six white cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Golden brown coconut macaroons on a baking sheet right out of the oven.

Evenly divide the dough into 6 mounds, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350 until all of the coconut macaroons are golden brown on all sides. Let cool completely.

Stack of coconut macaroons with chocolate bottoms next to glass of milk.

If you want to dip these coconut macaroons in chocolate, add the chocolate to a small dish and microwave on LOW until melty, stirring frequently. Alternatively, you can use a double boiler to melt the chocolate. Dip each cookie in the chocolate, and then place them on the parchment paper to set. You can move them to the fridge to speed things up, if you need to.

Yield: 6