The end of the holiday season always makes me sad. I feel better when I think about the words of the reformed Scrooge: “I will honor Christmas in my heart and keep it all the year.” Since my family objects to the Christmas trees being up year round (we have so many ornaments we need 3 trees, one of which is a 12 footer), I fulfill this phrase with cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.
If there is a universal food language, it is probably the cookie. People who must skip sweets for health reasons might like a loaf of home baked bread, but nothing says it like a plate of cookies. We try to keep a few varieties in the freezer for spur of the moment happenings, and Christmas is a great time to bake double batches for giving or enjoying ourselves. The act is so simple but the impact is huge: we are putting our house back together after a burst pipe kept us out for 4 months, and yesterday I make chocolate chip cookies for the construction crew. It turned a work day of fiddly punch list work into a day where everyone was still happy to be working at 6pm – 10 hours after they began. That’s the power of a cookie.
If you are a novice baker, start with a tub of Toll House Cookie dough – this makes 60 cookies for $5 and you can scoop them one at a time if that’s what you need. Then skill up to recipes on the bags of chips or other ingredients in the grocery aisles. In fact there’s a handy book called “The Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars” which I strongly recommend picking up second hand – it is $1.50 on Amazon! The coconut macaroons will work for a baker on any level. Let’s start with those.
Cocouut is almost always sweetened so carefully check your recipe. The recipe I used called for unsweetened and sweetened coconut; we got our unsweetened coconut from the “Greenwise” organic section of our regular grocer. The only other ingredients needed are 2 eggs (you will use only the white); vanilla and a can of sweetened condensed milk – that wonderful sweet and sticky ingredient that makes so many recipes simple.
This beginner recipe is super easy and also gives you a chance to practice separating eggs. Start by watching a video on how to separate an egg and make sure you have a plan on where to put the yolk – there are plenty of recipes which will use your extra yolks, or you can always use it with a bit of water to brush on pastry. I like to just toss the yolk between shells and let the white drip into another small bowl. [word to the wise: do this in a separate container and NOT over your other ingredients in case your yolk breaks; it happens] You will need 2 egg whites.
Simply combine the egg whites with the 2 kinds of coconut (2 ½ C unsweetened and 3 ¼ C sweetened); a tablespoon of vanilla; and a 14 ounce can of condensed milk. This recipe halves well as you can use only 1 egg white and just halve the amount of coconut and vanilla. The condensed milk is trickier,, but just pour it into a glass measuring cup and you will know how much is half. Or you can trust the can label and use 7 ounces. If you use a glass measuring cup, spray it with nonstick spray before you start as the sticky condensed milk will slide right out. This trick works for syrup, honey and anything else gummy or sticky. Like the batter you just made, because a quick way to measure portions is to put it in a sprayed ¼ C measure and make 2 cookies from that amount. If you have measuring scoops, which look like scaled down ice cream scoops, this recipe is just perfect for them.
You can get fancy with shapes if you want. Pyramids are fancy, but I prefer the old fashioned coconut mound with the sticky candied cherry center. It’s a sight, smell and taste of my childhood; and if I touch it I also remember the sticky sweetness. Time to bake!
In a preheated 350 oven, slide parchment covered cookie sheets with your coconut mounds and set timer to check after 7 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets and set for 6 minutes more; add time if the mounds are not golden yet. My cookies were done in 10 minutes, which a good reminder that all overs are different – just like people.
Cool on the parchment. Enjoy.
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