Miles introduced me to coconut macaroons about 10 months ago. We bought a container of macaroons from Trader Joes and made the mistake of opening the container while in the car on the way home. I had eaten five before I looked at the nutrition information on the top of the container. I don't remember exactly how many calories each coconut macaroon ended up being but I remember being blown away at how high calorie they were despite being so very yummy. I have been wanted coconut macaroons ever since but I haven't been able to bring myself to get them.Thanks to the trusty internet I was sure that I could find a recipe that at the very least I could adapt to make a lower calorie version of these sinfully delicious treats. I am a huge fan of checking reviews for recipes and I often choose to make the best rated version of any recipe. Tons of websites also have reviews from wonderful people explaining ways to make the original recipe better. Well, the best rated recipes all seemed to contain an entire can of sweetened condensed milk. Talk about calorie dense...condensed milk is about as bad as it gets.
And this is when I happened upon a blog with a recipe from America's Taste Kitchen. Now one of my good friends is always raving about America's Taste Kitchen so I thought this recipe would surely taste good. Like always I used the lowest calorie/fat options I could find. Below is my version of this amazing recipe. The link above will take you to the original version.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 bag (4.4 oz) reduced fat, finely shredded unsweetened coconut (I used Lets go...Organic)
- 6 large egg whites (I used egg substitute egg whites)
- 12 packets of Splenda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 6 oz dark chocolate for dipping (if desired)
Directions:
- Using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add Splenda, almond extract and salt. Continue mixing with the hand mixer for about 30 seconds...or until well blended.
- Mix in coconut (both kinds) using a spoon. Once mixed used the hand mixer to fluff the coconut and ensure it is well mixed. "Dough" will look like coconut and not like a dough.
- Refrigerate for 15 min. while preheating the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spoon one heaping tablespoon of the fluffy mixture into your palm. Squeeze the mixture while shaping it into a tight ball. Place about macaroons about 1 inch apart on a silicon baking sheet.
- Cook for 15 min. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet.
- If desired, melt good quality dark chocolate in the microwave and dip cooled macaroons into the chocolate.
