Pongaroons Macaroon Cookies Recipe

Nana Lee's Note:

Passover cookies. From Busy Cooks, @about.com Recipe from: The Cafe Pongo Cookbook: More Than 220 Recipes from the Hudson Valley by Valerie Nehez (Simon & Schuster)

• Total Time: 38 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 18 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 doz

• 1 lb sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 ¼ cups sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
• 1 ½ tablespoons almond extract or 1 ½ tablespoons Grand Marnier
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Mix together the coconut, condensed milk, and almond extract, keeping the coconut as fluffy as possible.
4. Whisk the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.
5. Fold the egg whites into coconut mixture.
6. Using a soup spoon, scoop the macaroon batter into mounds or balls about the size of a Ping-Pong ball.
7. Place about 1 inch apart on the parchment-lined cookie sheet.
8. THE MACAROON BATTER SHOULD BE HANDLED VERY GENTLY.
9. Do not squeeze the batter.
10. If your fingers become sticky from sliding the batter off the spoon, dip them in cold water.
11. Bake the macaroons until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.
12. Allow the macaroons to cool a bit before removing them, but don t let them sit too long or they will glue themselves to the parchment.

Reviews

[mary winecoff]

This was a very easy recipe to make. I used Grand Marnier. As Nana Lee says though these will stick to the parchment paper if left too long but you do need to let them firm up for a couple of minutes. Do not try to do this recipe without parchment paper! I think it would be too hard to remove the cookies off a regular cookie sheet. Thanks for a good coconut cookie recipe.