These dairy-free macaroons are lightly golden on the the outside and chewy on the inside with the sweet taste of coconut.
I think we’ve probably all had at least one bad experience with those misshapen, heavy and tooth-achingly sweet confections that pass for coconut macaroons at least once. You know the kind whose cloying sweetness hits you over the head at first bite and whose flavor is barely reminiscent of coconut.
A good macaroon however is quite the opposite.
The French call their coconut macaroons rochers à la noix de coco or congolais and they are an altogether different breed from the toothaching varieties. Baked until lightly golden on the outside, but still creamy white on the inside they are bites of pure coconut goodness.
A good coconut macaroon strikes a fine balance; it’s at once light but chewy , a little crispy around the edges, but with a soft, tender interior. It has a pure clean taste that’s all coconut, just lightly sweet and only takes a matter of minutes to make. Made up of a few kitchen staples, the difference lies mainly in the technique.
How to make dairy-free coconut macaroons:
While coconut, egg whites and sugar makes up the base of most coconut macaroons I’ve used honey instead for a naturally sweetened version and for it’s mild almost floral taste. The key to these however is to gently heat the egg whites, honey and coconut mixture over simmering water prior to baking it. This allows the mixture to partially cook and the coconut to fully hydrate before it goes in the oven allowing for a shorter cooking time at a high heat.
The short baking time in a hot oven ensures that these dairy-free macaroons get crispy and golden on the outside while keeping the centers nice and moist without the use of any sweetened condensed milk, and that is what makes all the difference.
Since the combination of chocolate and coconut makes for an extra special treat, you can also dip the bottom of each in chocolate and let them set or just drizzle some across the top if you so feel inspired.
More coconut cookies:
Dairy-Free Coconut Macaroons
These dairy-free macaroons are lightly golden on the the outside and chewy on the inside with the sweet taste of coconut.
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- ¼ cup/84g light colored honey
- ⅛ th teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups/200g finely shredded unsweetened coconut
- 6oz/170g dark chocolate, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine all of the ingredients except chocolate in a large heatproof mixing bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir the mixture for 6- 8 minutes until very hot to the touch and has thickened.
- Using a small cookie scoop, place mounds of batter on parchment lined baking sheet a few inches apart. Bake until lightly golden around the edges,(about 7-10 minutes) roating sheet halfway through (if tips are browning too fast, lower the heat 25 degrees).
- Let cool completely on wire racks. The cookies are best on the day they are baked, the crispy exterior will soften but they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- If making chocolate dipping sauce, place half the chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted. Remove bowl from heat, let stand for a few minutes to cool then stir occasionally the remaining half of chocolate until smooth.
- Dip the bottoms of each macaroon into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on parchment to set (about 1 hour). Store in airtight container at room temperature.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 111Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 20mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 2gSugar: 7gProtein: 1g
Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
(This post originally appeared on Jan 30, 2012; photos, post and recipe have been updated.)
(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Find out what that means for you here.)
Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
Michelle I says
tried making these today. Recipe sounds delish. So does the chocolate sauce. I made both...
The chocolate sauce was good, but I did have to add a little bit of powdered sugar to make it sweeter. Before the powdered sugar, it was kind of bland. I'm thinking this maybe the cocoa powder I used, but I'm not sure.
As for the macaroons....I'm not entirely sure where I went wrong with the recipe. I followed it to a T, and also redid it with another type of honey. The macaroons fell apart, I could not get them to roll into a ball at all. I used bob's red mill unsweetened coconut. They did not stick together at all, instead I had a coconutty mess on my cookie sheets.
Last gripe....baking at 400F. They began to burn after 5 minutes. I took them out and decided to try another recipe for my passover meal.
Any suggestions to what happened with all these missteps?
Sylvie says
Hi Michelle,
I'm sorry you had problems with the recipe. The chocolate sauce is very lightly sweetened so the quality of the cocoa powder does make a difference and some brands maybe more bitter tasting than others. If you didn't find it sweet enough then you might want to increase the amount of sweetener to your taste.
As for the macaroons the type of coconut may be a factor as some brands have more or less moisture. I have not tested these with the Bob's Red Mill coconut before so I can't say whether that would be the issue or not. If the coconut is on the dry side it will absorb more of the liquid making it hard to form balls. The process of forming balls with the coconut mixture can be a little tricky, they don't roll easily until you've given them a good squeeze in the palm of your hand. So I would place a small amount of coconut mixture in the palm of your lightly moistened or greased hand and squeeze it to bring together into a small lump which can then be gently rolled in your hand.
If you are finding that the macaroons are browning too quickly you may want to lower the temperature to 375. Not all oven are equally calibrated and 400 in my oven may not be equal to 400 in your oven. The macaroons are baked for a short time at a higher temperature in order to create a lightly browned exterior while keeping the interior nice and soft.
Hope that helps!
-Sylvie
susan says
sylvie, i just found these via another blog, how could I have missed this??? so gorgeous. so making these - just what we need as we are just starting a week of Passover! x
kate says
Love this recipe, and such stunning pics too!
Amrita says
I made coconut macarons from Dorie Greenspans's recipe once and they were gorgeous too! With silky caps of chocolate. Your look so petite and perfect for tea!
Baker Street says
Stunning pictures as always!
Magic of Spice says
These are delightful Sylvie! Typically these are over sweet and I don't care for them, but you version is wonderful 🙂 As the photos are as well!
jas says
Delicious! I've tried a rather huge egyption-like pyramid of these before and it was golden on the outside and creamy white inside, my only critism was that it was soooo huge that I was a little 'over' the coconut flavour by the end. Yours delightful balls of coconut deliciousness look like just the answer thought with their bite size, well, size and I am looking forward to trying them.
Kristen says
These are not only brilliant, they are absolutely gorgeous to boot.