Coconut Macaroons

I am not a baker, so for my mom to request a coconut dessert for Thanksgiving was a bit unusual. But we are planning for my brother-in-law's Christmas visit with my sister and niece, and his family always has some sort of coconut dessert. Alas, it fell to me to experiment.

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For once, I relied on a recipe. I know this is essential when baking, so there was no doubt I would lean heavily on the science of someone else's recipe. This one is simple:

5 cups of coconut (one bag)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup sugar
4 egg whites

Here are the steps: mix well, plop onto baking sheets, bake at 375-degrees for 25 minutes. Oh-- and watch them because, as my mom warned, "coconut burns quickly." As a finishing touch, I melted chocolate and dipped just the bottoms in the drippy chocolate (after letting the cookies cool in the fridge for a while).

They were a big hit at Thanksgiving, and I have no doubt they could successfully be made with a sugar substitute for those watching their holiday (and everyday) sugar intake. If you're an established baker or an aspiring one, you, too, can succeed at baking these macaroons-- fork (not) in hand.