Macaroons For All

Macaroons for All!

Vegan, Gluten Free, Paleo

Adapted from beamingbaker.com by My Little Blue Heron Kitchen

These are the simplest and most delicious macaroons I’ve made. If you don’t have these ingredients, run and get them! Neither gummy nor cloying, these macaroons are so satisfyingly chewy and light, you’ll donate those awful cans of gooey lumps and make these your holiday and every day macaroons. Keep them between layers of wax paper or parchment, airtight, at room temperature for a week. Freeze them for months. 

You’ll need five ingredients (you can get away with four if you omit the vanilla extract.)

If you don’t have refined coconut oil, please buy this. For baking, refined coconut oil is preferred because the taste of coconut is undiscernible. I use it all the time, even in these coconut/almond cookies because I want to taste the ingredients, not the fat. Try Nutiva brand, 

Buy SHREDDED and unsweetened coconut. I like this brand. You can buy it in some stores or online at you know where. Bob's Red Mill is good, too. Whatever brand you buy, organic is always a great choice. Finely shredded isn't optional, it's a requirement. The same for blanched almond flour. Don’t use the ‘natural’ flour or meal with skins. Almond flour is different than almond meal. Almond meal is good for breading things. 

I just bought a large bag at Costco.  

 No need to use your best maple syrup for baking. I always use the darkest syrup I can find. Grade “b” is no longer a permissible “grade”, so look for “formerly grade b” or “dark amber” descriptions.

My vanilla extract is from Baldwin’s in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It’s a fortune. There’s also some sugar in it, so if you’re a strict paleo human, you won’t use this. If you’re strictly GF, add ¼ tsp. Authentic Foods, certified GF vanilla powder.  If you want vanilla flavor without sugar, if you’re feeling solvent, buy some vanilla beans. You can scrape the seeds from a vanilla bean into the batter (1/2 a bean will do). Throw the empty bean into some bourbon and vodka (keep throwing them in and hide them in the dark in a glass jar, sealed.) Eventually, you’ll have sugar-free vanilla extract!

With the Mueller report and all, I think I’ll ➖➖➖and then nickname these Redactaroons. I can market them in ➖➖ and in ➖and I'll send a batch over to ➖ ➖and see if they'd like me to do some food shows.

Spring is a season of renewal, rebirth and hope. Please try not to lose hope. Get out and breathe. Stay in and breathe. Check out the app Headspace (in the app store), or at headspace.com. You can explore this great resource on your own time and share it with your children, too. Find a local sangha. If you’re in NYC, head over to one of three MNDFL meditation studios, two in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. Check it out! Vipassanistas: Head for NY Insight another great place with wonderful people, with sanghas all over the tri-state area. 

Enjoy these macaroons. Be happy, healthy, safe and may your life feel easy.

peace, love, hope and truth,

jane

Macaroons (with chocolate variation)

Equipment: Baking sheet, parchment paper, food processor, measuring cups and spoons, spatula, small 1” cookie scoop, cooling rack

Ingredients: 

1¼ c. unsweetened, shredded coconut, preferably organic

¼ c. finely ground blanched almond flour

3 Tbsp. refined coconut oil (SOLID, not melted!)

¼ c. maple syrup

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Procedure:

1.  Preheat oven to 350º F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2.  Measure ingredients and put all into your food processor.

3.  Pulse until batter comes together.

4.  Using a spatula, remove from food processor bowl into another bowl. There will be some liquid under the blade. Scrape the liquid into the new bowl and mix together.

5.  Using a cookie scoop, place mounds on parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving 1 1/2 inches between mounds (they will spread just slightly).

6.  Bake until golden, about 12-15 minutes. 

7.  Cool completely before removing/optionally decorating/storing.

Yield: approximately 16 cookies and more for chocolate (about 22)

Chocolate variation: reduce almond flour to 3 Tbsp. + ½  tsp., add ¼ cup cacao or dark cocoa and 1½ additional Tbsp. maple syrup. DON’T OVERBAKE! 

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