Sweetie Pie

Coconut Macaroons for Easter

Coconut Macaroons are a traditional dessert for Passover.  There are two basic recipes with variation in the use of sweetened condensed milk and egg whites.  I chose a recipe that calls for both.

Coconut Macaroons

3 cups coconut flakes - I chose unsweetened for a mildly sweet treat, but either variety would work.

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

seeds from 1 vanilla bean

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Beat the egg whites with the 1/4 teaspoon salt to stiff peaks.  In a separate bowl, combine the coconut, vanilla bean, vanilla extract, and sweetened condensed milk.  If you do not have a vanilla bean, just leave it out - no biggie.  Add about one third of the beaten egg whites to the coconut mixture and stir to combine.  Then add the remaining  egg whites and fold gently until everything is fluffy and mixed.

Scoop tablespoon sized balls onto the baking sheet.  A mini ice cream scoop works wonderfully for even portions.  You can make large snowball macaroons, but I prefer the minis. 
Bake at 325 for about 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Cool on the pans, then store in an airtight container.  Do not refrigerate.  Coconut macaroons are extra decadent with a little dip in some melted chocolate.  Just melt a little of  your favorite chocolate by 30 second increments in the microwave, then dip thebottom of each macaroon and return it to the parchment sheet to cool.

Chocolate Bark

Sometimes I bake a lot but don't blog much.  My kitchen might be a mess, or I might be whipping up favorite recipes that have already been posted.  This week I made cornmeal biscotti again, and I tried tinkering with a muffin recipe, but it wasn't super great.  I intended to keep working on it until it was perfect and then blog about it, but the cookbooks and measuring cups and notes just cluttered up the counter for several days without any progress.  I finally cleaned it up and made something else.  Something chocolaty.





Chocolate Bark

This recipe is taken directly from MyRecipes but I used slivered almonds instead of hazelnuts.

 3/4 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped

2 Tablespoons crystalized ginger, finely chopped

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and spread the nuts on a pan.  Toast them in the hot oven until they just barely begin to toast and smell nice.  Watch closely because burnt almonds are gross.

Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  I use ghirardelli 60 cacao bittersweet chocolate chips.  Turn the microwave to a medium or low power and heat the chocolate, stopping every 15 seconds to stir.  Again, watch it closely so that it doesn't scorch.  Once the chocolate is smooth, stir in the almonds, cherries, and ginger and spread on a baking sheet lined with foil or paper.  I like to spread it as thinly as possible.  Place the tray in the freezer until solid.  Break into pieces and enjoy. 

This treat is just right.  Chocolate with the crunchy almonds, tart cherries and zingy spice of the ginger is a very satisfying dessert.

P.S.  I am working on the blog design, trying to streamline and simplify.  Please bear with me.