I think my dad and possibly five other people in the world might say that their favorite American candy bar is Hershey’s Mounds. Remember those dark chocolate-covered coconut bars? Surprisingly, they still exist. My dad will happily eat any coconut confection you give to him, unless you pour white chocolate all over it, which would cause him to cringe in horror. For Father’s Day I wanted to make my dad a coconut-y treat and what else could I choose but the classic Coconut Macaroon.

Perhaps my dad is just getting older and his palette has changed, but he has recently developed a low threshold for anything sugary. The man who used to pack soda in his lunch bag everyday for work suddenly realized that it’s too sweet. Oh well, more for me!

I searched for recipes and skipped over ones that called for sweetened shredded coconut especially since I wanted control over the sugar content. But there was another popular ingredient in macaroon recipes that I definitely didn’t want to include. The mother of all things sugary, syrupy and thick: sweetened condensed milk. Ack!

Finally, I came upon Chocolate & Zucchini’s extremely easy recipe for macaroons that didn’t contain the two ingredients I was avoiding. Even better, it required just four ingredients, five if you want to add chocolate. Her recipe had just the right amount of sweetness for dad’s sensitive taste buds. The texture of the macaroon is crunchy and grainy on the outside but the soft, chewy center is where the coconut flavor really comes out. I couldn’t resist adding chocolate but instead of dipping the macaroons, I decided to drizzle the chocolate on top to maintain the subtle sweet flavor. The coconut is the star here after all and I didn’t want to ruin it for my dad.

The macaroons were a surprise hit with my family and friends. All these closet coconut fans suddenly emerged out of nowhere! Who knew? Maybe they’re the ones buying all the Hershey’s Mounds and Almond Joy- fooling me into thinking they don’t exist anymore.

Notes:
- What may be the only challenging part of this recipe is finding unsweetened coconut. I found mine in 200g bags at an Asian market and it was called desiccated coconut, an unnecessarily fancy name for dried.
- I used a scale this time because I wanted to be fairly accurate with Chocolate & Zucchini’s recipe. So I apologize in advance for the strange American conversions!

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini
Makes about 24

200 grams (7 ounces) unsweetened dried coconut flakes
130 grams (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) sugar
Pinch of salt
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix well with a fork.
3. Scoop out rounded tablespoons and form into a dome or a ball.
4. Place each macaroon onto baking sheet, spaced evenly. (I managed to fit all the mounds in one sheet.)
5. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden. Do not brown them too much or they will dry out.
6. Let set on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
7. Once the macaroons have cooled, place them on a cool baking sheet.
8. Microwave the chocolate in 10-15 second bursts, stirring chocolate in between until melted. (You can also use the double-boiler method if you prefer but it’s only a small amount of chocolate.)
9. Scoop melted chocolate into a sandwich bag and snip off a tiny portion of one corner of the bag. Or you can use a small pastry bag, but again, it’s such a small bit of chocolate!
10. Drizzle chocolate over the macaroons in a zig zag motion. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to set the chocolate.

Serve or store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Printable Recipe

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