Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

This past Father's Day we had plans to go to lunch with my parents but they were canceled due to the fact that my dad was feeling a little under the weather. So lucky for me, I had a little more time to figure out what to do for his gift. Growing up whenever we asked my dad what he wanted for his birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, he always said he wanted us to make him something. He preferred a homemade gift. Well, now as I am 24 years old I don't know that a macaroni necklace would receive the same enthusiasm, especially since he doesn't really wear jewelry. I do know that my dad happens to love coconut so as I was grocery shopping this week I got the inspiration to make him coconut macaroons for a belated Father's Day gift. 

I don't love coconut the way my dad or my husband does but a macaroon is one of my favorite types of cookies. In researching recipes I found that there really is not much to it. Coconut is truly the star of the show. They were very easy to make and turned out delicious! I brought some to a going away party last night and received rave reviews! 

(adapted from several recipes with my own touches as well)

Ingredients

For Macaroons:

2 (14 oz) bags of coconut

1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese

2 tblsp. heavy cream

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 egg whites from large eggs

1/4 tsp salt

For Chocolate Ganache:

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. 

Beat the egg whites and salt together until it forms medium firm peaks. I did this on a kitchen aid mixer but it can also be done with a hand mixer. It will look like this when you turn the beater upside down. 

Fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. 

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the mixture and place it on the cookie sheet. I had to use my hands a little too make sure they were right so don't be afraid to get a little messy. There doesn't need to be too much space between the pieces as it will not grow that much. About like this:

Bake them in the oven for approximately 27-30 minutes until they are golden brown on the tops. 

Let them cool thoroughly before dipping them in the chocolate. 

Once the macaroons have cooled it is time to make the ganache. Ganache is a chocolate sauce that is comprised of equal parts chocolate and cream. I used semi sweet chocolate in this recipe but feel free to use whatever chocolate you like. 

Ganache is best prepared over a double boiler. If you don't have one it is easy to make one at home by placing a bowl over a pot of water. It is very important that there is enough water to heat the bowl but not so much that it might touch the bottom of the bowl once it starts boiling. If that happens, your chocolate will most likely seize and instead of ganache you will end up with a lumpy mess. 

Put the chocolate and cream in the bowl and stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and combined with the cream to make a smooth glossy chocolate sauce. 

I decided to dip only half of each macaroon and drizzle the other half . I didn't want to completely overwhelm the cookie with chocolate. Let the cookies sit for 45 minutes to an hour or until the chocolate is set. 

Happy Belated Father's Day!

Enjoy! 

Katie