Coconut Macaroons

Oh, glory. How did it get to be Friday? I have no idea where this week went. Between the peanut butter filled chocolate roses, the mounds-bar-type-filling filled roses, and the fabric partially-sewn-but-kind-of-held-together-with-hot-glue daisies (Teacher Appreciation Week . . .), the whole week has just disappeared. So, in keeping with the "I don't have enough time to do anything" theme, I am posting a quick, quick recipe.

I've tried other recipes for macaroons, but have always been rather underwhelmed. One was so sticky that they wouldn't come off the parchment paper, and the other was more like meringue. (Is that right? Meringue? Merengue? I'm too lazy to open a Word document and use the spell checker to check.) These, however, tasted just like I wanted them to. In fact, if I had more of them right now, I think that I would probably eat them for breakfast. (That is, I would eat them for breakfast if I weren't restricting my sugar intake. But I am, so I wouldn't. Eat them. Probably.) They spread out a little oddly at the bottom, which I'm thinking is because of the lack of gluten to help hold the egg whites together inside the cookie. I'll make them again one of these days and see if they need xanthan gum or if they'll be just fine if I smoosh the cookies down a bit before baking. Maybe one of you will try it and let me know what you find out . . . . In the meantime, this is how I made them.

Coconut Macaroons

1 small bag (7 oz.) coconut
2/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. potato starch
1/4 tsp. salt
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (in a pinch you could grease your cookie sheet, but I don't know how well they'll release).

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Drop 1" balls of the mixture on the cookie sheet, 1.5 to 2 inches apart. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes (edges will be light brown). Cool on a wire rack.