This is dedicated to the one I love...

 

It's been a long while since I've posted, I apologize. I was staying with friends after I returned from a trip abroad, and that's not really the best environment for food blogging. I just finally got back into cooking again, with this recipe (the easiest tastiest thing ever, and it brought back my desire to cook!). It's got 3 ingredients and you probably have them on hand. Don't deviate from the recipe (even I didn't!!!), the beauty is in the simplicity! 

Ok, so onto the recipe I really wanted to blog about, actually it's more of an idea than a recipe. I recently shared one of these tasty bars with my sweetie and was inspired. I'm not a huge milk chocolate fan, so I switched it out for bittersweet but I used all the other elements of that bar in this macaroon recipe. I took a typical coconut macaroon, then dipped it in Indian curry spiked chocolate which was followed with dry roasted almonds. The results? Just look at the photo! You know you want to put that in your mouth. 

I looked all over the internet for a macaroon recipe. They varied, some adding flour or sweetened condensed milk. I just wanted a simple and pure macaroon, so I used a recipe from another blog as a starting point. I couldn't get unsweetened coconut, so I just bought the sweetened kind. Generally I would wait, because I think there's some weird preservatives, but I needed to get back on my blogging feet, so I went with it. If you have a favorite macaroon recipe, use it...then just do the final 2 steps!

Preheat to 350F

14oz bag (minus about 1/2 cup) of sweetened coconut 

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup of sugar- I used the unprocessed kind. I might dial this back a little more next time, with the addition of the chocolate it's borderline too sweet for me

3 egg whites

Mix all ingredients with a fork in a large bowl. The mixture should be moist, but not wet or runny. Add the remaining coconut if it doesn't absorb enough of the egg whites. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and start shaping the macaroons for their trip in the oven. I made them into little cone-ish pyramids, but you can stick with ball shaped or whatever you want. Just keep it to about 1T of coconut mixture per cookie or less. Also, I recommend using your clean hand to squeeze the "dough" together in a tight ball before final shaping. You should get it after a try or two. I baked these in 2 batches for about 20mn each. But, ovens can vary so keep an eye out, starting with about 12mn and adding time. I went for an even golden color all over, which gave it a nice crispy coconut exterior and a softer center. After baking, let them cool for a couple minutes so they setup before removing from the baking sheet. Then let the macaroons cool completely. Don't worry it doesn't take too long.

Chocolate dip

Approx 3 handfuls of bittersweet chips

Chopped almonds

Approx 3 handfuls whole dry roasted almonds- chopped I used the food processor

In a stainless steel bowl over a small pot of barely simmering water, melt your chocolate chips being careful not to get it too hot or it won't stay smooth and silky. In case you've never done this "double-boiler" thing, make sure the bowl is wider than your pot, and doesn't touch the water at all. You'll see the chips turn glossy and they'll start to melt. Using a metal spoon, stir to evenly melt the chocolate. It will be a bit thick, just make sure it's all melted and isn't stiff. At this point add a bit of Indian Curry powder, I used a blend of spicy and sweet. I started with 1/2t, tasted and worked up to about 1t. However, you might not want it that strong, or you might want it stronger. Remember you're just dipping the bottoms in though, and you want a nice balance with the coconut. Straight from the chocolate I dipped it into the almonds and placed each cookie on the parchment to harden. That's it!