Sugar Savvy

Let’s play Jeopardy-

Answer: Coconut Macaroons

Question: What is - what you do with leftover egg whites

Oftentimes a recipe calls for egg yolks only, so what do you do with the whites?  Throw them away?  That would be wasteful; instead, find a recipe that uses egg whites.

I make quite a bit of ice cream so I am often faced with this dilemma and have spent a good deal of time trying out various recipes that use up my leftover egg whites.  One of my favorite recipes is a quick and easy recipe for Coconut Macaroons.  So in honor of the recent National Macaroon Day (May 31st), I would like to share this recipe with you.

EASY MINI COCONUT MACAROONS 

Ingredients:

180g (about 1 ¾ cups) of finely shredded unsweetened coconut * see NOTES
120g (about ½ cup + 3 tsp) white sugar * see NOTES
2 large eggs whites
½ tsp vanilla extract
Optional – mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the coconut, sugar, egg whites and vanilla with a fork or you fingers until all the coconut is evenly moistened.  You can also add mini-chocolate chips to the mixture at this point (like I do) to make Chocolate Chip Macaroons.

Scoop tightly packed teaspoonfuls of the mixture evenly spaced onto the baking sheet and place in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the tops of the Macaroons turn a light golden brown.  Do not over bake or the centers will not remain soft and chewy.

*NOTES:
The measurements in the original recipe are given in grams, which I converted to American cup measurements.

You need to use unsweetened coconut in order for this recipe to work.  Unsweetened coconut can be found at most health food stores. Since it is drier and finer than the regular sweetened coconut that you find at grocery stores, the unsweetened coconut better absorbs the egg whites and gives the cookies their characteristic texture (soft and chewy in the middle, crisp on the outside).