Coconut Macaroons with Dark Chocolate

I'm going to be honest here - most recipes I try for the first time end up going on here, since they usually turn out well the first time I try them, or they are a tried and true dish that I've been riffing on for years and decided to finally write it down. These macaroons are the first thing I've made at least a dozen times before I've found what I think is as close to a perfect coconut macaroon you're going to get. It took pounds of shredded coconut and sugar before I got these right. 

Although I knew what I wanted in these, I didn't know how to get there. Kind of like starting off with what you don't like about something, and going from there. I don't like the texture of shredded coconut in a macaroon - I wanted a creamier, smoother take on it, similar to the first one I ever had nearly 20 (gasp) years ago. They were large and wonderfully round, with a crisp golden brown exterior with a creamy just-right-amount of sweetness interior, with a pleasant chew. 

Lots of research in various cookbooks and online led me down pretty much the same path. There aren't too many variations out there, which was a bit disappointing. Then I found what I was missing... sweetened condensed milk! I felt like a complete dumb dumb when I stumbled across Ina Garten's version and realized that was what was missing! The glue that holds 7 layer bars together (one of my fav desserts, with coconut no less!) was the magic ingredient I was missing. 

This recipe is an adaptation of Ina's. I processed the coconut for quite a bit in the food processor to achieve the smaller crumb that I was after, but feel free to skip this step if you prefer the straight up shredded coconut texture.

INGREDIENTS

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut,

   pulsed in a food processor for about 1 minute
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk 
   (not to be confused with evaporated milk)
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp good vanilla extract plus
   1/2 tsp almond extract, or 1 full 
   tsp of either
3 large egg whites
pinch of kosher salt 
pinch of cream of tarter
6 ounces good quality dark chocolate,
   melted and slightly cooled (optional... sorta)

Preheat oven to 325*, ensuring there are racks placed on the upper and lower middles of the oven. Fully combine the processed coconut, sweetened condensed milk, almond flour, and extracts in a large bowl. In a smaller  bowl, use an electric hand mixer to whisk the whites, salt, and cream of tarter to firm peaks. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the coconut mixture. Set aside. 

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Do not be tempted to break out your silpat here - they will surprisingly stick like crazy to this. Scoop out scant tablespoons of batter and drop them onto the sheets, leaving a roomy inch or so between each cookie. Pop both sheets in the oven onto each rack and bake for 35 minutes or till golden brown, swapping their places in the oven about halfway through.

Remove from oven and let cool for a minute before placing on a wire rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, chop up the chocolate using a serrated knife and empty into an oven safe glass bowl. You can either use a double boiler type method (which I prefer, since you're more in control and less likely to scorch the chocolate) or the microwave. For the stove top, place a medium sauce pan filled with an inch of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Place the bowl on top and melt the chocolate, stirring often, till nearly all of it is melted. Remove from heat and stir continuously till all the chocolate has melted. If using the microwave, heat the chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each one, till most of the chocolate has melted. 

Flip the parchment paper over on one of the cookie sheets, which should now be fully cooled. Dunk, dip, drizzle or drown each macaroon in the melted chocolate, and place them on the parchment. Pop into the fridge and chill till the chocolate has completely set, about 30 minutes. Remove and place into an airtight container. These cookies will keep for 2 days on the counter top, or a week in the fridge.

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Macaroons

Not Without Salt's Chocolate Chip Cookie

There are probably as many chocolate chip cookies in the blogosphere claiming to be 'the best ever' as there are people willing to eat them. I've tried my fair share, but none of them have been memorable enough to prevent me from resorting to the recipe on the back of the chip bag instead of pulling it out. These have changed all that. I was so beguiled by this one, that I read it over and over, wrote it down, read that about a dozen times, daydreamed about it at work, that I now have it down verbatim and I've only made them twice. This week.

I pulled this recipe from the wonderfully written blog Not Without Salt by Ashley Rodriguez. She shares classic and simple recipes paired with beautiful prose on her passion for food and glimpses into her ever-evolving family life. I urge you to check it out, and suspect you may find some inspiration there, as I have. 

There are a few characteristics of these cookies that I must share with you, since I learned the 'hard' way. Do not be tempted to scarf these soon after they are out of the oven. You will be missing out on the true potential of this cookie. I've found that they are best consumed once they are completely cooled, and in my opinion, they reach their peak the next day after being sealed away in an air-tight container. I know, I know, this goes against everything we've grown up with - there was nothing better than a warm chocolate chip cookie out of the oven. Well you see, that is because the quality of those cookies were flat out inferior, and we could only imagine how good they'd potentially be by devouring them quickly once they were freshly baked. These cookies defy all that.

For one, the best bittersweet chocolate 'you can afford' is called for. That means there is none of the emulsifiers that are found in chocolate chips that hold the shape of the chocolate together. You will get it everywhere if you dig in too soon. This is not a bad thing, yet you'll be rewarded for your patience if you let them cool. There is also a high ratio of brown sugar (nearly 2 cups!), and I pretty much adore anything that calls for lots of brown sugar. The butter and egg amount is the same, yet there is quite a bit more flour than in other recipes. I was a little dubious when I first made these, since the texture of the dough wasn't the super creamy scoopable stuff I was accustomed to - I had to work it a bit with my hands to get it into a roughly golf ball size. Since there are huge chunks of chocolate, you end up molding the dough around them. In other words, this dough is basically a vehicle for the chocolate. Yet this conduit is the tastiest one I've ever had - instead of falling short of the chocolate, it marries with it beautifully and gives these cookies real depth.

Enough of my waxing, on to the recipe! You can find it here, but I have also provided it below if you'd rather scroll down than click. I have made subtle adjustments, but all in all it is the same recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 sticks unsalted butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

1 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

12 oz chocolate, the best you can afford, cut into roughly 1/2 inch chunks with a serrated knife. (I tentatively used bittersweet, worried it might not be sweet enough, but I will never use any other - it made a magnificent cookie) 

1/2 tsp good quality sea salt (I used Maldon's), to sprinkle atop cookies before baking

Cream butter and sugars on medium high speed till light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl a couple times during creaming. Continue mixing and add each egg one at a time, ensuring the first is fully incorporated before adding the second. Scrape the bowl, add vanilla, scrape bowl again. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda in separate bowl. Slowly add the flour to the wet ingredients with mixer on low, leaving behind a smidge. Pour chocolate bits into the remaining flour and toss. Remove bowl from mixer and add the chocolate and flour mixture and combine by hand (literally) till just combined and there are no more streaks of flour.

Shape into golf ball sized rounds, sprinkle with a whisper of sea salt (if you like - if you're hesitant, just try it on a few - you may love it) and bake @ 350 degrees for 12 minutes. I baked 6 at a time, since I wanted perfectly round cookies that hadn't butted up against their neighbors. Keep a good eye on these as well - after reading another blog's post of this recipe, they recommended pulling the cookies from the oven as soon as the edges were golden brown, which was actually a bit shy of 12 minutes. Of course it all depends on your oven, so keep an eye on them.

After removing from oven, let the cookies rest for 2 minutes on the sheet so they can set. Place on a cooling rack and test your patience by waiting at least till they are cool to the touch before housing.