Not only am I obsessed with macarons/French macaroons, I also like coconut macaroons. I have such a sweet tooth. A while ago, I made a bunch of lemon coconut macaroons from a simple recipe I found on a blog – alpineberry.
These instructions were taken from her site.
Lemon Coconut Macaroons
(adapted from Gourmet magazine April 2007)
2 large egg whites
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
pinch of salt
1 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 tsp potato starch or all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone sheet.
Stir egg whites, sugar, lemon zest, salt to combine.
Toss coconut with potato starch and then add the coconut to egg mixture and mix well.
Scoop out 15 mounded tablespoons onto baking sheet, spacing them about 1.5 inches apart.
Bake at 325F for 16-18 minutes until the tops are light golden brown in spots.
Allow to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes.
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The trickiest part for me was getting the lemon zest. Lemon zest is the yellow part of the peel of the lemons that contains the oils and flavour. I bought two lemons and grated them with a veggie peeler; then I chopped them up as small as I can. I had random cubes and irregular shapes of lemon peel, instead of finely grated zest.
(Btw- I used regular lemons, but meyer lemons is supposed to taste better. However, I couldn’t find any in my local superstore, and the 2 lemons I bought only costed me $0.50)
I threw my improv lemon zest in my mixture anyway, testing them out, and hoping for the best…and thank goodness it tasted okay! I enjoyed my homemade macaroons! It’s a very simple recipe that anyone should try, especially if they love citrus flavoured pastries! For me, I prefer citrus > chocolate anytime!
My finished product:
Do you see the awkward lemon peel on the macaroon? Hehe.
I think I messed up somewhere though…because the bottom of the macaroon is supposed to be more brown, and mine is just melted lemon..goo 🙁
I will have an attempt number 2 soon! 🙂 Hope they look tasty to you!
