For most of my life, I thought I was allergic to coconut after I had a very scary experience with it when I was young. As it turns out, I’m not! But when I thought I was allergic to it, I developed a strong aversion to the smell most likely as a way to tell myself not to eat it.
Fast forward to my adulthood, and I ate it by accident one day. I was fine. I tried it again with raw coconut not mixed in to anything and I was fine with that too. It’s possible I grew out of the allergy, but I’ll never know. Never-the-less, I’ve slowly started coming around to coconut and one of the ways I like it best is in a macaroon, aka a coconut cookie.
It’s a really simple cookie to make, albeit finicky to make because they can be a bit fragile. But really, it’s just a mix and drop on the pan kind of recipe that I plan on making for both Passover & Easter this year since we celebrate both. For Passover, we’ll eat them as is. For Easter, I’ll stick my thumb in the middle and make an indentation, drop a spoonful of chocolate (or Nutella!) in the dent and top them with Cadbury mini eggs. One a cookie, one a bird’s nest. Two for the price of one.
When making these, make sure you use sweetened condensed milk, not unsweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk. The later two will result in very runny, almost flat like macaroons.
If you want to see how I made these live, check out my instastories on Instagram. It’ll be saved as a highlight too!
Coconut Macaroons & Birds Nests
Ingredients
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- 7 ounces unsweetened coconut, either shredded or chips
- 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg whites on high until they form firmish peaks, about 3-4 minutes.
- While the eggs are whisking, combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Once the egg whites are firm, carefully fold them into the coconut mixture.
- On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or silpat (and sprayed with cooking spray or oil – don’t miss this step or they’ll stick), drop the batter onto the prepared sheet pans using 2 teaspoons.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool slightly, then remove from pan carefully to cool completely on a cooling rack.
- If making these for Passover, enjoy them once cooled.
- If making these for Easter, carefully stick your thumb in the middle of the macaroons when still slightly warm. Fill it with melted chocolate or nutella and top with 2-3 Cadbury mini eggs to make little birds nests. Either way you make them, you’re bound to enjoy them!
Season Generously 