You’ll find this Coconut Macaroons recipe, among may of my other favorite cookies, in Zoë Bakes Cookies.
I know, the whole macaroon/macaron thing is rather confusing. It’s helpful to think of both as derivatives of a cookie that has evolved over hundreds of years with each version maintaining that base of egg whites and sugar.
These are one of my favorite Passover cookies. I find the commercially made ones dense and too sweet, but the homemade ones are delightful, chewy treats that are so easy to make.
Tom Gumpel, my former professor at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), inspired these cookies. He added all kinds of dried fruits—raisins, cranberries, apricots, and cherries—for added sweetness and extra chew. Over the years, I’ve experimented with various flavors, such as jaggery, ground cardamom, and chocolate to satisfy whatever cravings I have.
Coconut Macaroons (Haystack Cookies) Step-By-Step
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two doubled-up baking sheets or insulated cookie sheets with lightly greased parchment paper or silicone mats. The doubled- up baking sheets will protect the bottoms from getting too dark.
In a large stainless steel bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and egg whites.
Fill the bottom of a double boiler or a medium sauce-pan with 1 inch / 2.5cm of water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Place the bowl with the sugar mixture over the double boiler and stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until the sugar is completely melted.
This can take about 5 minutes. Brush down the sides of the bowl with the spatula to make sure all the sugar is melted and no grains are clinging to the side. Feel the mixture between your fingers to check for graininess.
Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and add the vanilla, salt, coconut, cinnamon, raisins, dried fruit, and nuts. Stir well to incorporate. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes. It can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 48 hours.
Stir before portioning out the haystacks using an ice cream scoop. Be sure that the batter is tightly packed in the scoop before releasing it onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about two inches apart. If you are using a #40 (1 1/2 tablespoon) portion scoop, you will get about 15 per sheet.
Bake, with racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven, for about 20 minutes until golden brown on the top and bottom, rotating the trays and switching from top to bottom halfway through baking.
Allow to cool completely on parchment paper, lift the cookies to unstick them from the paper, and then dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120g) egg whites about 4 large
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3 cups (320g) loosely packed sweetened angel flake coconut and/or shreds
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (70g) raisins chopped or whole
- 1 cup (150g) chopped dried fruit raisins, apricots, cherries, and/or craisins
- 1/2 cup (60g) finely chopped pecans or walnuts
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two doubled-up baking sheets or insulated cookie sheets with lightly greased parchment paper or silicone mats. The doubled- up baking sheets will protect the bottoms from getting too dark.
- In a large stainless steel bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and egg whites.
- Fill the bottom of a double boiler or a medium sauce-pan with 1 inch / 2.5cm of water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Place the bowl with the sugar mixture over the double boiler and stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until the sugar is completely melted. This can take about 5 minutes. Brush down the sides of the bowl with the spatula to make sure all the sugar is melted and no grains are clinging to the side. Feel the mixture between your fingers to check for graininess.
- Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and add the vanilla, salt, coconut, cinnamon, raisins, dried fruit, and nuts. Stir well to incorporate. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes. It can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 48 hours.
- Stir before portioning out the haystacks using an ice cream scoop. Be sure that the batter is tightly packed in the scoop before releasing it onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about two inches apart. If you are using a #40 (1 1/2 tablespoon) portion scoop, you will get about 15 per sheet.
- Bake, with racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven, for about 20 minutes until golden brown on the top and bottom, rotating the trays and switching from top to bottom halfway through baking.
- Allow to cool completely on parchment paper, lift the cookies to unstick them from the paper, and then dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Fantastic recipes Zoe! Hmmm she loves all things buttery so whilst it sounds boring, some cute little shortbread buttons 🙂
May Canadians enter? I’ll be making my mom a fruit pie of some sort (I’m hoping we’ll have enough rhubarb by then).
I think I’d like something like an oven-baked pancake – simple but really flavorful (and full of carbs!) 🙂
We always do brunch on mothers day – lots and lots of fresh fruit, belgian waffles, and a recent addition, maple pecan scones….mmmm
The dessert i’ll be making for my Mom? Gingerbread with lemon sauce and whipped cream.
A wonderful dessert that was served often when i was growing up.
My mom loves chocolate so I’d probably make her a flourless chocolate cake with a homemade coffee or caramel ice cream. Ohhh can’t wait:)
In my family, we usually celebrate with pie, not cake. All my life, I’ve thought cake was just a dry brownie masquarading as a dessert worth eating. And then, a few weekends ago, I made a cake from scratch for my in-laws’ birthdays. Wow. Finally, cake worth eating!
That cake is the one I would make for my mom–four layers of buttery white cake filled with homemade lemon curd (the juice squeezed with love from an entire bag of tiny, hard-as-rocks lemons) and topped with glossy white icing and toasted sliced almonds. Perhaps I need to practice once more before Mother’s Day…
My mom loves healthy nutritious stuff, so I’d make a carrot halwa(an Indian dessert) for her!
My mom loves pineapple desserts so I’d probably make her a homemade pineapple milkshake or pineapple upside down cake (even though I think it’s gross)
My Mom absolutely loves fresh strawberry shortcake with lots and lots of real whipped cream (is there any other kind?!?). I’m sure that’s what I’ll make for her this year.
Oh, but last year, I made chocolate ganache cupcakes with candied violets on top and packaged 6 per box and gave them to my mother and MIL. They loved them and they were so easy!
I’m debating between chocoolate chunk orange cake and a key lime tart. She loves both flavors. I would want a Sinckerdoodle bundt cake!
Your macaroons look wonderfully browned and chewy. I want one!
I would make a raspberry white chocolate cheese tart for my mom. For myself I would love someone to make me something truly decadent for mothers day.
You can’t go wrong with a flourless chocolate cake!
Oh gosh, that heart shaped ramekin is adorable! I wanted some of their tiny oval bakers at Christmas, but, well, the family presents came first. For Mother’s Day? Hummm, I love, love, love eclairs, and cherry or strawberry clafouti. Not sure the kids even know how to make them, but those would be my picks.
I think mother’s day comes at at a time when strawberries (and rhubarb) are perfect. I would make some heart shaped almond cakes (made with almond paste) with a caramel whipped cream and strawberry/rhubarb compote. I look forward to your upcoming post with your choice.
Last year I made my mom a white chocolate strawberry layer cake…and if I do say so, it was fantastic. 🙂 She remember my baking disasters from my teen years, and it was fun to talk about how far I’ve come (she’s a baker, too).
I would make my mom a rhubarb strawberry pie. yum.
Nothing makes me think of a mother more than a warm apple pie. And individual ones (or one to share) would be so cute made in the heart-shaped dishes.
Zoe, I adore old-world desserts that relied on natural sweeteners, like fruits and honey. These are beauties!
I’m going to make my mom some German Chocolate Cupcakes. They’re her favorite!
I lost my mom a couple of years ago, but her favorite was strawberry shortcake with homemade buttermilk biscuits and fresh whipped cream. So I’ll ask for that, I think.
Your macaroons look out of this world delicious!
Hi jen,
I use either. Which ever one I’ve got!
Great to see you! Zoë
Hey Zoe – do you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
I would make Chocolate Chip Pie for my mom. It was a recipe that my Grandmother developed in her High School Home Ec class. We are lucky to still have this recipe in our family!