Baking Week at Everyday Cheer

My sister-in-law and I had a baking bonanza last week. The photo above is from our last baking morning together. We subscribe to the theory that if the mixer is already out…surely there is something else we can make with it! We only get together once a year or thereabouts, so we do a lot of baking while we have “a partner in crime”. What one doesn’t think of, the other one does so we have a lot of fun. Since our last visit, she has “discovered” madeleine making and has made them in dozens of flavours. I was eager to have a lesson as I’ve never even tasted them before. We ended up making 5 kinds of madeleine (lemon, apricot-coconut-rum, lavender, rosewater-cardamom and strawberry-white-chocolate). And…since we had leftover lavender, coconut and lemons, we tried out some new recipes for other types of baking as well: lavender lemon shortbread, coconut macaroons, lemon tea cakes, amaretti, and gingerbread saskatoon cake.

So, fire up your sweet tooth and check out what we made. Today, Coconut Macaroons.

Today’s offering came from having egg whites to spare. These turn out somewhere between a meringue and a macaroon texture, a “mergoon” if you like. Slightly crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle – a texture I am fond of.

Coconut Macaroons

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat 2 egg whites with

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

Stop beating when the whites are approaching soft peaks,

Add 2 cups of coconut.

Drop onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Voila!