Are you all ready for summer? I know I am. It’s not quite here though. So I am making do with these little cookies that have flavors reminiscent of a tiki cocktail, and are basically a mashup of macaroons and macarons. I’m not a big fan of either of those, I usually find them too sweet for my tastes. So I reduced the sugar as much as I could, swapped out sweet coconut (which is in macaroons) for unsweetened, and punched up the flavor with lime zest and freeze dried pineapple. And these cookies stay wonderfully soft with the almond meal (featured in macarons). If you turn the heat up to 80 degrees, close your eyes and take a bite, you can almost believe summer is here. And did I mention these little gems are naturally gluten-free and dairy free?
The plastic whipping bowl is what you need for this recipe, and both of the whisks. First, the balloon whisks to whip up the egg whites:
and then the single wire whisks to fold in the rest of the ingredients. Thankfully they just pop right out for easy swapping:
Quick word about freeze dried fruit. I am able to find several kinds in my regular grocery store, and Target actually has a huge selection as well. They are often in the aisle with the dried fruits/nuts/healthy snacks. I tested these out with both mango and pineapple freeze dried fruit. Blueberry, strawberry or raspberry would work just as well too. Just swap out equal amounts (by weight) for pineapple.
As much of a fan as I am of silicone baking mats, these cookies need to be baked on parchment paper. The parchment paper helps dry the bottoms out, whereas the cookies stuck to the silicone baking mats.
These cookies will seem very soft when they first come out of the oven. Let them cool for at least 20 minutes on the parchment paper before removing.
Wherever you live, I hope spring weather is pushing away all the winter gloom and reminding you that summer days are just around the corner. Happy baking!
Tropical Coconut Almond Cookies
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Bake Time: 25 minutes
4 egg whites
1.5 g. (3/8 tsp.) kosher salt
7 g. (1 tsp.) fresh lime juice
114 g. (1/2 cup) sugar
30 g. (1 oz.) freeze dried pineapple, or freeze dried fruit of choice
156 g. (3 cups) unsweetened dried shredded coconut
140 g. (1 cup) fine almond meal
zest from 1 small lime
Preheat oven to 325º F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside until ready to use.
Place egg whites, salt and lime juice in the plastic whipping bowl with the balloon whisks. Beat on medium speed (3 o’clock) until frothy. Slowly add sugar. Once all sugar is added, turn up speed to highest setting (8 o’clock) and set timer for 2 minutes.
While egg whites are whipping, place freeze dried pineapple in a blender. Blend on high speed until powdered.
Once egg whites are done whipping, swap out balloon whisks for single wire whisks. On the lowest speed (12 o’clock) fold in the remaining ingredients, including the powdered pineapple.
Using a spoon or medium size disher, scoop out about 2 Tbsp. worth of batter and place 2 inches apart on prepared pans.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cookies are just beginning to brown, rotating pans halfway through.
Let cool for 20 minutes on pan before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Honey Granules Version
-Replace sugar with 86 g. (1/2 cup) honey granules, aka sucanat with honey.
-Follow recipe above.
