Birthday Coconut Macaroons

 I turned twenty-three today. I feel so much older. Like at least forty. I tried to cancel my birthday this year but was told that if you cancel your birthday you die. I don't feel that old. 

Anyway, the news of the day is that I am now the proud new owner of a kitchenaid stand mixer (in red, of course).  My instinct was to begin baking as soon as it came out of the box. Legit. But Ethan had to play with it first, and I decided I would wait until I cleaned the kitchen again. 

I always thought I would get a mixer, maybe as a wedding gift. My friend, Nikki, and I always like to admire them on black friday.  But Ethan's gone and bought me one, probably saving me years of shoulder pain and considerably raising the bar on my food.

Coconut Macaroons

Admittedly, I TORCHED the first batch of these I tried to make a few weeks ago. I thought that the 20 minutes of baking time was also a good time to start my lesson plans. ITS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO BAKE THINGS WHILE DOING LESSON PLANS. You will end up with little charcoal golf balls. But these ones came out just perfectly. 

What will you need? 

2 egg whites

1 pinch salt

1 pinch cream of tartar (probably not necessary if you don't have it, but it helps to stiffen the egg whites, useful especially if you are beating the egg whites by hand)

2 tsp to 1/4 c. sugar

2 1/2 c. coconut

1/2 tsp vanilla

parchment paper (i'm not kidding)

Combine your egg whites, salt, and cream of tarter in a bowl. Whisk or use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until they begin to froth and turn white. Add your vanilla slowly once your egg mixture has begun to form soft peaks. Also add your sugar, a few teaspoons at a time and continue to mix until the egg whites form stiff peaks. I used less sugar (2 tsp) because I was using sweetened coconut and I planned to cover them with chocolate. Use more sugar if you like sweet macaroons, sweet things in general, or don't plan to smear chocolate on the tops of them. Fold in the coconut a bit at a time. It should form somewhat of a ball in the mixing bowl, if not, add more coconut a TBS at a time. Don't mess with the mixture too much, if possible. Place small spoonfulls of this mixture onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use the parchment paper. Trust me. Go to Ocean State or Big Lots and pick some up for $2.00. It's worth it.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 325˚F. Keep an eye on them in the oven. They are done when the bottoms are brown as are the tops.

Take out of the oven and remove from the cookie sheet. Cover with something delicious like dark chocolate.