“Snow-conut” cookies are the delicious product of my child-like wonder and cabin fever brought on by the past week’s winter storm. My Arizonan hometown has not seen snow since the last Ice Age as far as I can tell, so making these macaroons was a sweet way to spend my first real snow day. What other treat becomes a snowman so naturally? Baked with mostly pantry staples, the recipe for these fashionable fellows is quite simple, which is a real plus when the weather makes a trip to the grocery store nearly impossible. What makes these macaroons exceptionally approachable is tempering chocolate via the “quick and dirty” microwave method and replacing egg whites with sweetened condensed milk to bind the coconut flakes. I personally find that stacking up snowmen adds a charming touch to the whole business, but any presentation of your treats will taste just as good.
Ingredients (makes about 20 macaroons):
- 14 ounce bag or 5 and 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 14 ounce can or 1 and 1/4 cups sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 bar dark chocolate, ideally more than 100 grams and 60–70% cocoa
- Chocolate chips have added stabilizers and often too little cocoa butter to temper
- Melting less than 100 grams of chocolate makes it easier to scorch
- A 70% cocoa chocolate bar is roughly 70% cocoa solids and 30% cocoa butter; chocolate with less cocoa butter easily over-thickens when tempered
- A handful of pretzels or pretzel sticks (if you are making snowmen)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit; empty shredded coconut into a large mixing bowl. Break up any clumps of coconut, then add flour and salt. Mix thoroughly.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract into another large mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
- Add shredded coconut to sweetened condensed milk mixture in thirds, stirring thoroughly and breaking up clumps of dry ingredients after each addition. The macaroon batter should be moist and able to hold its shape on the spatula.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (the macaroons will stick horribly without it). Scoop one inch– to two inch–wide macaroons onto the prepared baking sheet with a small ice cream scoop, leaving about an inch of space between the cookies. You can still have neat spheres without an ice cream scoop by rolling the batter with your hands, but this method is quite messy.
- Bake for eight to ten minutes before rotating baking sheet. Bake for another eight to ten minutes until the tops of the macaroons have toasted and there is a golden-brown ring around the base of each cookie.
- Remove baking sheet from oven; transfer macaroons to a plate or cooling rack.
- While the macaroons cool, you can temper your chocolate to decorate the cookies. To help the chocolate bar melt smoothly and reduce risk of scorching, cut it into small pieces.
- Put two thirds of the chopped chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Melt for one minute at 50% power, then remove and stir. Repeat until fully melted. If your chocolate hardens at any point, reheat for 30 seconds at 50% power.
- Add the other third of the chopped chocolate to the melted chocolate about a spoonful at a time, stirring after each addition. Let the chocolate pieces melt before adding more, reheating if necessary.
- The chocolate should thicken and become smooth and shiny as you combine the last third. Once it is fully incorporated, stir for an additional minute so it can cool slightly.
- Set aside three macaroons for each snowman you want to make. Dip the remainder of the room-temperature macaroons into the chocolate, shaking off excess before placing them back on the plate or cooling rack to dry. You can also drizzle chocolate over the macaroons with a fork or chopsticks.
- To make snowmen, use a chopstick to create two indentations for eyes on the top cookie and two indentations for buttons on the middle cookie. Press two pretzel pieces into the sides of the middle cookie for the snowman’s arms. Flood the divots for the eyes and buttons with melted chocolate using the tip of a chopstick. Assemble the snowmen once the chocolate dries, using toothpicks or small dollops of melted chocolate to hold the stacks together.
- Enjoy!
Hope Cognata can be reached at hcognata@wesleyan.edu.
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