Coconut Macaroons at Home

A lot of people from school were excited to get home to a kitchen. But me? I live in a dorm full of kitchens (8, to be exact). I have an oven at school. So, what I was really excited for was the plethera of ingredients that I don't have to pay for, as well as an electric mixer. And what is a girl to do with such items? Why, make her favorite fancy cookie, of course: home made macaroons.
These are not cookies that can be easily done in any dorm room. But, they are delicious and super fun to make, so I hope you will accept this recipe anyway. This recipe is adapted the Joy of Cooking cook book (a book that is so worn, it no longer has a cover, or a spine, and is split in half because the glue is coming undone).
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
6 cups of moist shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk
First, separate the whites from the yokes of two eggs. This is tons of fun for anyone who hasn't done it before. There are two ways to doing it, but personally I prefer to use the shells to separate the whites. simply pass the yoke back and forth between the two halves of the shell after you crack the egg, trying to get it to the point that all of the egg whites are below you in a bowl, and the egg yokes are in the shell. This way works if you have mastered the art of cracking eggs. If you haven't, you can use your fingers and simply pass the yoke back and forth between your hands so that your hand has the yoke and the bowl has all of the whites. This way is a lot more difficult to do. Help With Cooking has wonderful directions on how to separate egg whites and yokes.

Next, stiffly beat the whites. This should be done using a mixer on a low-medium speed (I had mine at about level 2 out of 5) for several minutes until your liquidy egg whites have become super fluffy.

Beat for about 5 minutes or so and your egg whites will look like...

this!

In a separate bowl, combine the coconut, almond, vanilla, and salt.

Then, add the sweetened condensed milk, to make a thick paste.

Next, fold egg whites into the batter.

Now, roll the paste into balls onto a well-greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in an oven heated at 350 degrees, until edges are lightly browned.

When they come out of the oven, you have several options. You can leave them just as they are, or place chocolate kisses and marishino cherries on top.

The end result was quite tasty. Be warned, you will need to wash your hands constantly while you handle the eggs. Also, you will be probably tempted like I was to eat much of the dough. It's so delicious throughout the baking process. But your hands will become quite sticky if you keep doing that, so make sure to have lots and lots of soap in your kitchen while you make these cookies.

I highly recommend you make these if you are willing to take the chance. And if you like coconut. And if you're not currently staying in your dorm.

Dorm Food

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