Chocolate Coconut Macaroons Recipe

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons are gorgeously toasty on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside, and come dipped in chocolate, which officially makes them the perfect holiday gift for coconut lovers and gluten-free friends alike!

Coconut Macaroons with sweetened condensed milk require only 6 ingredients and are seriously easy to bake! Use chocolate melting wafers to make the job even easier, and before you know it, you'll find yourself in gluten-free, coconut cookie heaven. 

Here's the deal with Chocolate Coconut Macaroons: They're either really good or really bad. Which conjures the question, "What is it that makes a good macaroon?" We'll cover this and more, but alas, we'll leave you in suspense no longer. The Chocolate Coconut Macaroons you'll find here? They're the really good ones -- flavorful, chewy, and melt in your mouth delicious.

ABOUT CHOCOLATE COCONUT MACAROONS 

The first couple of coconut macaroon recipes we tried left much to be desired. They were dry and lackluster in flavor. Their ingredient list mainly consisted of shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and whipped egg whites. By adding just a couple of extra ingredients you can take Coconut Macaroons from lackluster to completely divine.

MACAROON VS. MACARON

When you first hear the word macaroon, you might immediately envision a light-as-air stack of French pastel sandwich cookies, but this cookie is actually a macaron, which are meringue-based. So, don't let that whole "macaron" thing scare you off -- -- this one's spelled with double o's. In fact, whipped eggs whites and the shape is about the only thing these two cookies have in common. 

Coconut Macaroons aren't necessarily dense, but they certainly aren't light as air. They bake up golden brown on the outside, house a good deal of coconut,  and offer up a pleasingly chewy interior.

CHOCOLATE COCONUT MACAROON INGREDIENTS

Coconut macaroons are gluten-free and contain no flour. Flour is a binder, meaning it holds other ingredients together, among other things. However, with no flour being present in the recipe, we now look to the egg whites to not only bind the ingredients but also add volume to the cookie.

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons begin the same way as their airy friend, the French macaron, with egg whites. It's important to note here that the egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks, which means if you were to take the beaters and point them toward the ceiling, the egg whites would stand stiffly on the beaters, without drooping down.

COCONUT  MACAROONS WITH CONDENSED MILK

Sweetened condensed milk a flavor almost reminiscent of vanilla pudding to Chocolate Coconut Macaroons and it's pretty much to-die-for. Be sure not to confuse sweetened condensed milk with evaporated milk. They are not the same product. 

To your sweetened condensed milk, you will add vanilla extract and salt to the mix, as well as the leftover egg yolks! The vanilla and salt enhance the flavor, while the yolks not only add more moisture to the macaroons but a lovely richness as well.

COCONUT FOR MACAROONS

Another important ingredient is finely shredded coconut. Bob's Red Mill Fine Macaroon Coconut is perfect for this recipe as their finely shredded coconut makes for a much more pleasing bite, and allows the cookie to shape up nicely. If you can't find this kind of coconut for your macaroons, you can buy the regular shredded coconut, add it to a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and pulse until it is finely shredded.

COCONUT MACAROONS WITH CHOCOLATE

The only product we recommend using for dipping just about anything in chocolate are Ghirardelli's Chocolate Melting Wafers. It's the next best thing to chopped and melted down chocolate, and you don't have to worry about all the tempering, seizing, and blooming. 

HOW TO MAKE COCONUT MACAROONS

The word macaroon may seem intimidating, but when it comes to making a batch of Chocolate Coconut Macaroons, the process is actually very simple:

1. Whip the Egg Whites - Whipping egg whites can certainly be done by hand, but this is one of those tasks many gladly hand over to technology. If you have one, use your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and let that beauty do all the work for you. If you don't have a stand mixer, use a handheld mixer.
2. Mix Remaining Ingredients - Once your egg whites are properly whipped, you'll mix together the sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. Then, add the finely shredded coconut to the mixture and it's back to the egg whites -- they're kind of important.
3. Fold in Egg Whites - If we want this cookie to have any oomph at all, we are going to have to take it easy on the egg whites. The egg whites were beaten to stiff peaks, and we want to do our best to maintain the integrity of those stiffly beaten egg whites. Therefore, we do not stir in the eggs -- we fold.
4. Scoop and bake - The macaroons are then baked on either a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. The bottoms can be a bit sticky when they first come out of the oven, so no skipping that step. When they are finished, they come out a perfectly beautiful golden-brown, and are ready for their final reveal...or are they?
5. Dip in Chocolate - Once your Coconut Macaroons have cooled, have ready a work surface lined with wax paper. Then, melt the chocolate wafers according to package directions, and dip the bottom of each cookie into the melted chocolate. Take the time to allow the excess to drip away, as you do not want a pool of chocolate surrounding each cookie.
6. Set - Transfer the dipped cookies to the wax paper, and allow the chocolate to set up completely, about 30-45 minutes at room temperature. Serve and enjoy.

5 MORE DESSERT RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE

• Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies are a melt in your mouth peanut butter cookie that is easy from start to finish. This recipe always yields a soft and chewy cookie perfect for topping with a chocolate Hershey kiss!
• Chocolate Coconut Bars are gooey bar cookies equipped with a buttery graham cracker crust with layers of chocolate and coconut. They consist of 5 main ingredients and comes together in less than 10 minutes of prep time!
• Chewy M&M Cookies are the best holiday cookie! Change out the color of M&M's depending on the season and serve them up as a kid-friendly dessert!
• Chocolate Sandwich Cookies are a decadent, show-stopping dessert! Featuring a creamy raspberry filling sandwiched between two homemade chocolate wafers.
• Chocolate Pound Cake has a tender crumb made with two kinds of chocolate. An easy dessert perfect entertaining and feeding a crowd!