Macaroons are made with either almond paste or shredded coconut.
They require less flour than regular cookies (You only need 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour to make 32 cookies.) as the main ingredient – egg whites hold all other ingredients together.

INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENTS

Equipments

Double boiler
Cookie scooper

Ingredients – Makes about 16 cookies

3 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
(I replaced to sweetened coconut since that’s what I had at home.)
1 cup sugar (divided use)
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp grated orange zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 large egg whites

HOW TO MAKE

Making Coconut Macaroon Dough

1-2. Mix 1/3 cup of the sugar with the flour.

3. Place 2/3 cup sugar, the coconut, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. (I did not have unsweetened coconut, so I used sweetened coconut and 1 cup sugar as the recipe said-I wanted to adjust the amount of sugar, but I forgot. The truth is that everybody loved extra sugar coconut macaroons!)
4. Heat over simmering water about 3 minutes.
5. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and hold together.
6. Remove from the heat and add orange zest and vanilla extract.

7-8. Add and fold the flour mixture (flour and sugar) in to the egg mixture.

Scooping Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 F.

9-10. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter onto the prepared cookie sheets by using a spoon or a cookie scoop.
(I like to use a cookie scoop because it lets me drop the same size of cookie batter.)

Baking

11. Bake about 20-25 minutes until the macaroons turn in light golden brown on the outside, but still soft inside. (Transfer the macaroons to a wire rack with the parchment paper on the bottom.)

Chewy & Gooey Coconut Macaroons!

Alexa’s Tips

1. My batter was a little bit liquid. I didn’t do anything to it, but I think adding a little bit of flour could help.
2. Macaroons are very soft when they just come out of the oven and that is why you should move then with the parchment paper to a wire rack to cool.
3. You can use sweetened coconut instead of unsweetened coconut. If you think that will be too sweet, cut down the amount of sugar to 2/3 cup.
4. If you don’t have orange zest, don’t worry and just skip it.
5. You can dip them in ganache, if you desire.

Coconut Macaroons with a hint of orange zest!

Is there something in between shortbread cookies and Christmas? I don’t know why, but I must have shortbread cookies for Christmas.
I made these cookies for this Christmas and everyone who tried loved them!
If you love shortbread and citruses, you’ve got to try this recipe.

INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENTS

Equipments

Stand Mixer
Rolling Pin
Sifter

Ingredients – Makes about 30 cookies

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
1 cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp grated orange zest
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest

HOW TO MAKE

1. Sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
2. Cream the butter on medium speed until light in texture and smooth about 2 minutes.
3. Add the orange and lemon zests.

4-5. Add the confectioners’ sugar (shift it if you can). Cream until the mixture is light and smooth about 2 minutes. (Scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed)
6-7. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix on low speed. (I forgot to sift ahead, so I was sifting directly into the bowl.)

8-9. The dough is doen when it is just blended well. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface (I used a wooden cutting board.).
10-11. Shape the dough in a square and roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into
3 x 2-inch (for wide shortbread) 1 x 2-inch (for narrow shortbread) rectangle

12. Grease the cookie sheets with butter or flourless cooking spray and place the cookies on the prepared cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Cover and chill for 30 minutes before baking.
13. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 F. Then, bake for 20-25 minutes.(Rotating the pans as necessary to bake evenly.)

14. When the edges of the shortbread are a very light gold, they are done. (They feel very soft and breakable, but they will harden while they are cooling down.) Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely before serving.

15. If you desire, dip the shortbreads into a soft ganache and let them harden and serve.

Alexa’s Tips

1. Chill the dough for 30 minutes before rolling, if it is too sticky.
2. Shortbread tend to spread out while it is baking, so make sure you cut them smaller than
the size that you want when they are baked.

I came up with the idea of making tuxedo shortbread cookies while I was dipping them into the ganache!