Recipe for fluffy "haystacks" type macaroons?

Hi,

I recently made some macaroons using a "Joy of Baking" recipe. It gave me chewy coconut cookies. I had been hoping for something lighter and fluffier, more like a haystack, more like the commercially-available macaroons (e.g., Manischewitz). Anyone know a recipe for that kind, or how to adjust this one?:

4 egg whites, room temperature
1 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c cake flour, sifted
3 c sweetened shredded coconut (300 g, ~11 z)

1. In a stainless steel bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt. When this mixture is warm to the touch, and nice and creamy, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, flour, and coconut. Cover and refrigerate for about two hours, or until firm.

2. Preheat oven to 325 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Place small mounds (heaping tablespoons) of the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen macaroons.

Baking is not my strongest suit but I am trying to learn.

Thanks for any guidance.


Jeff

Hi,

I recently made some macaroons using a "Joy of Baking" recipe. It gave me chewy coconut cookies. I had been hoping for something lighter and fluffier, more like a haystack, more like the commercially-available macaroons (e.g., Manischewitz). Anyone know a recipe for that kind, or how to adjust this one?:

4 egg whites, room temperature
1 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c cake flour, sifted
3 c sweetened shredded coconut (300 g, ~11 z)

1. In a stainless steel bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt. When this mixture is warm to the touch, and nice and creamy, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, flour, and coconut. Cover and refrigerate for about two hours, or until firm.

2. Preheat oven to 325 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Place small mounds (heaping tablespoons) of the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen macaroons.

Jeff,
A lot of the macaroon recipes I've seen call for whisking the egg whites (and usually sugar and vanilla) to a medium-firm peak before folding it into the coconut, etc. That should improve the fluffiness of the cookie.

Mark Lipton

Hi,

I recently made some macaroons using a "Joy of Baking" recipe. It gave me chewy coconut cookies. I had been hoping for something lighter and fluffier, more like a haystack, more like the commercially-available macaroons (e.g., Manischewitz). Anyone know a recipe for that kind, or how to adjust this one?:

4 egg whites, room temperature
1 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c cake flour, sifted
3 c sweetened shredded coconut (300 g, ~11 z)

1. In a stainless steel bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt. When this mixture is warm to the touch, and nice and creamy, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, flour, and coconut. Cover and refrigerate for about two hours, or until firm.

2. Preheat oven to 325 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Place small mounds (heaping tablespoons) of the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen macaroons.

Jeff,
A lot of the macaroon recipes I've seen call for whisking the egg whites (and usually sugar and vanilla) to a medium-firm peak before folding it into the coconut, etc. That should improve the fluffiness of the cookie.

Mark Lipton

Macaroons that are fluffy? Sacrilege, if you drop a good macaroon on a unshielded foot it should hurt. It's like good New York cheesecake, you lift a whole one you should get a hernia.

Thanks, Mark.

Um, er, thanks, Lou.

[Jenise]

Jeff, I've never made macaroons so honestly I haven't a clue, but they're my favorite cookie in the world and we would seem to like the same kind. I know that one choice you must make is to get the stringy coconut, what might be called shredded vs. grated, though I'm not sure about the terminology, to get the lacier look as well as what I have always perceived to be an airier texture than cookies made with the shorter, wider pieces of coconut.

Mark's advice about whipping the egg whites seems like sound advice too.