Coconut Macaroons with a Chocolate Drizzle

These little beauties are the reason coconuts have found its way into my heart. It's a recipe that I learned during my time at the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time when all I had to do was go to school. Man, oh man did I kick ass back then... but enough living in the past.

It's taken me many, many tries to perfect this recipe. The original recipe used pastry flour, was really liquidy, and required it to be chilled in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking but with my adjustments it's come out pretty perfect... in my eyes anyway.

Coconut Macaroons
Yields about 90

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 oz Egg Whites (about 3 extra large eggs)
3/4 ounces Light Corn Syrup
6 ounces Sugar
1/2 ounces AP Flour
1/8 teaspoon Salt

13-14 ounces Sweetened Coconut Flakes
(I like flakes as opposed to shredded, it's thicker)

1/2 cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

In a medium pot add everything but the coconut flakes (in order that it's written).
(I know in the picture it's not in the order that it's written. I realized after putting the vanilla on top of the flour that it wasn't a good idea to do that. I don't remember having issues before with it... and it really didn't effect the macaroons in the end but there were some lumps in the mixture. Just avoid lumps altogether and do it in this order.)

Give it a good stir with a heat proof rubber spatula and heat over medium heat while continuously stirring. When all the sugar granules dissolved add the coconut flakes.

Just take some of the mixture between your index and thumb and rub it together. You shouldn't be able to feel anything grainy.

Continue to cook in the pot for a minute or two until the coconut absorbs the melted mixture.
Let it cool for about 10 minutes. To speed up this process you can pour it out onto a sheet pan.

Line a sheet pan with a Silpat (a nonstick silicon baking mat) or parchment paper. In my experience the Silpat works the best. It also helps distribute heat the best.

Using your hands pile about a tablespoon for one macaroon.
In this picture the macaroons aren't on a Silpat. That's because while a pan was baking in the oven I pre-made these so I could easily load the next batch while the others cooled.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes or until it looks something like this:

For the drizzle, just melt the chocolate chips in a microwave in 20 second intervals. I melt it just barely until most of the chips are melted and then by mixing the rest of the chips get dissolved. I made a cone using parchment paper but you can just use a ziplock bag. Cut off one of the corners and you have a pastry bag.

Drizzle over macaroons and there you go! It's a bit messy with the chocolate everywhere but it sure is delicious with it!

These will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a couple of days.. though it is the best the day that it's made.