Well it’s obviously been far too long since I’ve posted a recipe from one of my favorite food groups. So here!
You should definitely try out these macaroons sometime — they’re delicious! I made mine with granulated coconut sugar, which darkens the color of the macaroons as you can see in the picture above. They’re also gluten free if you make them with arrowroot powder instead of whole wheat flour. In fact, I prefer them with arrowroot because of the crunchy-edge-soft-center texture that results!
Chocolate-Orange Macaroons
2 cups unsweetened dried coconut, shredded
2/3 cup sugar (granulated coconut sugar or sucanat are health-minded choices…but use white sugar if it’s important that they be white, like typical macaroons)
1/4 cup arrowroot powder* OR whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp fresh orange zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 egg whites, unbeaten (I like to freeze egg whites for times like this)
2 tablespoons coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix the coconut, sugar, flour, orange zest, and salt. Stir the almond extract into the egg whites. Then mix the egg whites and coconut oil into the dry coconut mixture. Stir well. Now, mix in the chocolate chips.
Either generously oil your cookie sheet, or line it with parchment paper (the macaroons will be easier to remove from parchment). Form tablespoons of dough into balls and place onto the cookie sheet; they won’t really expand, so you can place them pretty close together. Bake about 10 minutes or until they’re firm to the touch and lightly browned on the bottom.
Cool before serving, and enjoy!
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*Curious about arrowroot? It’s actually not a refined product despite the look of it. It’s the dried, powdered root of a tropical plant that only grows in tidal flats where sea minerals are available. It’s therefore rich in trace minerals and in calcium ash (calcium chloride), which makes it very easily digestible. In addition, the calcium ash in arrowroot is very important for maintaining the proper acid-alkali balances in the human body. Its downside is the price — it’s $5.35 for a 1lb 4oz bag at our local health food store.
Chocolate and orange make a great combination. I’m making these as soon as I get ahold of an orange. Do you think you could use honey instead of sugar?
Emily,
Yes — they’re awfully yummy! I’m sure you could try it with honey, in fact I think I’ll try that next time too. I would use about 1/2 a cup of honey, but wouldn’t decrease the eggwhites since they bind the whole mess together. Then if the “dough” seems really wet, I might toss in about a tablespoon of coconut flour (or just increase the whole wheat flour).
If you make ’em with honey, let me know how they turned out!