Joyful Almond Macaroons

 

Out of the Box Desserts: Simply Spectacular, Semi-Homemade Sweets by Hayley Parker 

(The Countryman Press, 2016, $24.95)

Let’s have a little vocabulary and grammar lesson, shall we? “Definitely” means something is definite; “defiantly” means something is done angrily or out of spite. “Your” is possessive; “you’re” describes you. “Macaron” is a French cookie made of almond flour and is sold for the price of a right lung in some bakeries. “Macaroon” is a coconut cookie that’s gooey, soft and chewy, and not at all as pretentious as its one o-less cookie counterpart. While I love macarons, macaroons are also a favorite. They’re truly meant for coconut lovers since they’re unadulterated coconut baked with sweetened condensed milk for a tender, chewy cookie. These cookies will be YOUR new favorite since YOU’RE someone with good taste—a fact that is DEFINITELY true. 

• 5 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

For Topping

• 16 raw almonds
• 4 squares chocolate candy coating/almond bark

Preheat oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

In a large bowl, toss together the coconut and flour until coated. Stir in the vanilla extract, almond extract and sweetened condensed milk until combined and sticky, about 1 minute.

Drop rounded tablespoons of the coconut mixture onto the baking sheets about 1” apart. Use wet fingers to smooth out the tops of the coconut mounds, which will prevent the ends of the coconut shreds from burning. Place an almond on top of each cookie mound.

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time, until golden brown and fragrant. Allow to cool completely on the sheets.

Melt the chocolate bark according to package directions, or until smooth. Dip the bottoms of the cookies into the melted chocolate, then place back on the cookie sheet. Once all the cookies have been dipped, pour the remaining chocolate bark into a plastic sandwich bag, seal out the air and snip off the tip. Drizzle the remaining chocolate onto the cookies. Makes 16 cookies.

Moonraker Brewing Company’s Lead Albatross 

Moonraker is a seven-month-old, Auburn-based brewery that has already garnered a gold medal at the California State Fair, a silver at the Great American Beer Festival, and another gold at the 2016 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Needless to say, they’ve made quite a splash in the community with their impressive brewing skills. Lead Albatross, a robust coffee porter—made using fresh, locally roasted Tanzania and Sumatra coffee beans from Depoe Bay—clocks in at 5.4-percent alcohol by volume and jolts you hard with the java, but has a hint of chocolate that covers up almost all of the bitterness, making it a very well balanced, easy to drink beer that pairs delightfully with the Joyful Almond Macaroons.

—Eden Tuscano, 36 Handles Restaurant & Pub