Help! Need kosher coconut macaroon recipe!

[sljones]

In between efforts to work and take care of my first baby, I'm cooking for our first seder that my husband wants to host. I thought I had it all figured out, until I just realized that my coconut macaroon recipe from Cooks Illustrated contains corn syrup, a no no.

So do you have a tried and true coconut macaroon recipe to share? Has anyone tried the recipe on the back of the bakers shredded coconut bag? And why would CI include a non-kosher recipe in their passover menu? Uggh, thanks for your help!

sljones

[lovessushi]

From recs on a post I put up about Passover desserts I made the ones by Alice Medrich. They look pretty hilarious-I need a better way to form them. But they're SO delicious! I just left out the vanilla. Good luck!

[janie]

I just put together the ingredients for the bitman recipe, his differs slightly than the paraphrased one below it's on the site, with 1 cup sugar, 3 egg whites, and 3 cups of coco..and 1 tsp vani..thing is the mixture looks so dry and crumbly...i'm worried to attempt to form pyramids and put it in oven...any suggestions??

[janie]

absolute disaster..i went back and added part of another egg white to see if that would make the batter a bit moister--and tried a test batch...cooked for 15 min on 350, they were browned, but oh boy, they are just awful crumbly dry mess....! Saw a video on utube by kosher cook leah who heats up egg whites with sugar in a bowl over pot with hot water and then adds the dissicated coconut...see other neg reviews of the bitman recipe online...

[rockycat]

You've had some good recipe suggestions here. As to why CI would print a non-Pesachdik recipe for Passover? It's a lot more common than you might think. Not everyone knows the kashrut rules for Passover, and that includes recipe writers and editors. You just have to keep an eye out for that kind of thing.

[SIMIHOUND]

What is CI? Thanks.,

[Cakegirl]

Cooks Illustrated magazine

[DaisyM]

I can only tell you that it has come out terrific for me every time and is now a family favorite.

[maria lorraine]

Yay! Glad you have a recipe that works for you, and that is a family favorite. It's always good to have foolproof standards that you love.

[DaisyM]

Here's the recipe. Trust me...it is great...serve them warm!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

[DaisyM]

Ina Garten's recipe is amazing and so simple. Stick them in the oven before you clear the dinner plates and serve them warm. Seriously, everyone goes crazy over them.

[maria lorraine]

There have been a number of complaints about that recipe on this board, if you'd care to do a search. I believe the problem that showed up several times was that the recipe had too much liquid. I don't know-- I haven't tried it.

I can't imagine a recipe that's better than the one Mark Bittman did for the New York Times. 5 minutes to mix, 15 to bake. Fantastic flavor.

[lstormont]

The ones my mom always made were, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 bag of shredded coconut, and (I can't remember the exact measurement but I think it was) 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Then there were the countless other variations too: chocolate (add cocoa), chocolate chip, lemon, orange....

Make sure to do them on parchment though as these will stick like glue.

[maria lorraine]

The Chicago Tribune yesterday published a story on the macaroon and Passover.
It's a nice piece, with several parts, including 3 macaroon recipes. It's worth a look:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/feature...

[maria lorraine]

At last year's Seder, I loved Mark Bittman's (New York Times) macaroons. Extremely simple. 5 minutes to mix, 15 to bake. The egg whites are not whipped. Here it is, paraphrased:

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt

Paraphrased procedure: Place all ingredients in bowl and combine using your hands (or rubber spatula). The mixture will be very thick. Use silpat- or parchment paper-covered cookie sheet. Use your hands again to shape into globs (small mountains with peaks) and place on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 till light brown. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes.

My Variation with Sliced Almonds:
I added about 1½ cups sliced almonds and 3-4 more egg whites to the recipe above.. This makes a dense sludge. Plop on covered baking sheet, in method described above. Bake till golden, about 15-20 minutes. Check after 15 minutes – you don’t want the coconut to over-brown!

[Chocolatechipkt]

Thank you for posting this! I made these yesterday (the original version, as I had no almonds on hand), and they were quick and easy and tasted great! I'd been making the CI version, but they're so much more effort and much stickier/messier to form.

[Chocolatechipkt]

Just to clarify, I'd been making the CI recipe that used both sweetened and unsweetened coconut and cream of coconut, too -- no corn syrup, but the combination was very sticky and more work than necessary, as the above Bittman recipe proves. :)

[maria lorraine]

The Bittman Macaroons are miraculous. Extremely flavorful, ridiculously easy. Glad the recipe works for you as well. CI's and Ina Garten's recipes are too complicated.

[NYchowcook]

here you go! Martha Stewart's simple easy and delicious coconut macaroons. Sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla and salt. What could be easier?

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/s...

[valerie]

I make the chocolate chunk variety every year (actually so easy that now my husband makes them) and every year they are a hit.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/c...

[sfumato]

I know they're not coconut, but perhaps you could try something new, or you could make these into coconut macaroons by mixing in a bit of shredded coconut and substituting coconut extract for the almond? I am sure the recipe would work just fine.

Her cookbook sounds useful, too!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/din...

[katecm]

I make these lemon coconut macaroons, and they are excellent. The lemon zest really adds a lovely undertone. If you want to be completely traditional, just omit it. But really, any macaroon should just be egg whites, sugar, coconut - no corn syrup!

2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a baking sheet and line with foil or parchment. Lightly butter and flour foil, knocking off excess flour.

Stir together egg whites, sugar, zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until combined, then stir in coconut. Drop 16 tablespoon-size mounds about 1 1/2 inches apart onto baking sheet.

Bake until tops are pale golden in spots, 15 to 20 minutes, then carefully lift foil with cookies from baking sheet and transfer to a rack to cool completely, about 10 minutes. Peel macaroons from foil to serve.