Yummy Recipes - Chocolate Macaroons

When eating Paleo, dessert can be a real challenge. Occasionally we'll cheat (like on Sunday when I had two cupcakes at church). But at home when we're craving something sweet, we'll either have fruit drizzled with honey, or these guilt-free little treats. I couldn't find unsweetened coconut at my local grocery store, so for a while, I made these with sweetened coconut (not strictly Paleo because of the added sugar). On a recent trip to Central Market, I found the unsweetened kind in the bulk food section, so I loaded up. The textures of the two types of coconut are very different, therefore the finished products came out quite different, but both really good!

Chocolate Macaroons

3 large egg whites
1/3 cup honey
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup almond meal (ground, sweet almonds)

Preheat oven to 350*. Place egg whites in a bowl and beat using an electric beater or food processor until stiff peaks form.

Fold in honey, cocoa powder, walnuts, coconut and almond meal until just combined to minimize the handling of the batter.

Spoon 1-2 Tbsp. of mixture per macaroon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until light brown in color. Cool before serving. Makes about 2 dozen. Enjoy!


Coconut Walnut Macaroons
Same recipe as above, except omit cocoa powder.