One might easily confuse and think that the French macarons and the chewy shredded coconut macaroons are one and the same but these are actually two distinctly different sweet treats.
The French macaron that has a crunchy, smooth domed top with a soft interior that is slightly chewy and melts in your mouth. It is a meringue made from egg whites beaten with some granulated sugar and folded with almond flour and filled with either buttercream, fruit spread or ganache. On the other hand, coconut macaroons refer to moist, dense, sweet coconut confections made from condensed milk or egg whites with sugar and shredded dried coconut.
French macarons are tricky to make and demand a lot of work to get it perfect while the coconut macaroons are super easy to make with only 4 ingredients that can be boiled down to 4 simple steps.
EASY PEASY COCONUT MACAROONS
recipe adapted from Kirbie Cravings5 1/4 cups coconut flakes
1 (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
melted chocolate (optional for dipping)
Preheat the oven to 175C degrees (350F). Line a cookie sheet with non-stick baking paper or parchment paper.
Mix the flour and coconut together in a bowl. Add in the condensed milk and vanilla and stir together until well blended.
Scoop by teaspoonfuls and using wet hands, shape the macaroons into round balls (or triangles if you prefer) before dropping them onto the baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until top is golden brown. Immediately remove from baking sheets. Cool completely before dipping in melted chocolate.