i'd rather be baking

Most people would agree that peanut butter and chocolate belong together, and I certainly wouldn’t argue. But if there’s a better soulmate for chocolate than peanut butter, it’s definitely coconut. And yes, I realize that it’s horribly unhealthy and super-fattening, but some things are just so darn tasty that it doesn’t matter.

These little beauties come together incredibly easily and I can already envision them as a Christmas gift for some lucky soul. And the brilliance of their richness is that one is all anyone needs (including me and my ridiculous propensity for sugar).

I question slightly whether these can be called cookies, since there’s no flour or even any sort of grain present at all, but who I am I to doubt America’s Test Kitchen and their infinite wisdom? And really, there’s nothing more to say about these except that you must make them, now.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

This is my halved version of the recipe, which makes 12 cookies, which seemed like quite enough for the two of us. But if you’re sharing them with others you might like to double the ingredients and make the full batch.

2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

Pulse the coconut in a food processor until fine (1-4 pulses, depending on how small the pieces already are), and transfer to a medium bowl. Process the egg whites, sugar, salt and extract together until light and foamy, about 15 seconds. Stir the egg mixture into the coconut until combined.

Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture is thick, at least thirty minutes. This is key — mine spread a bit while baking and I think it’s because my impatient self didn’t let the mixture thicken enough.

Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and grease the paper. Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter (about an inch) onto the prepared baking sheet. Form the cookies into loose haystacks with your fingers, moistening your hands with water as needed.

Bake the macaroons until light golden brown, 13-15 minutes, turning the sheet halfway through baking. Let them cool completely on the baking sheet, about an hour.

Melt 3 ounces semisweet chocolate (carefully) in the microwave, 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Dip each cookie into chocolate to coat, then set it on a clean sheet of parchment paper. Let cool until the chocolate is set, about an hour.