Primal Coconut Macaroons
Before going paleo/primal, I only ever really ate macaroons during passover. A classic treat that’s always been gluten-free, I’ve been wanting to bake some up myself for years since they’re really simple and consist of only a few ingredients. However, these delightful treats always seemed to lose out to more decadent confections like cupcakes and pies (and now that summer is fast approaching the itch for pie-making is starting to take hold)!
Recently I came across a recipe on Elana’s Pantry for her Paleo Coconut Macaroons and immediately pinned it. I’ve been pinning a lot of paleo/primal recipes since I started to stay inspired, and this one definitely stood out. I know macaroons are pretty much 80% paleo already so the only real change is swapping out sugar for honey. I altered her recipe ever so slightly by adding some vanilla extract and drizzling the tops with some dark chocolate. When it comes to chocolate, the darker the better in terms of diet-friendliness, but all I had were Hershey’s semisweet chips; So shhhh don’t tell Mark on me! Haha. A little chocolate never hurt anyone I say, but next time I make these I’ll try to pick up some good quality 80% or more dark chocolate.
I rarely shoot a “mise en place,” but with such few pretty and dainty ingredients, I couldn’t help myself.
- 2 large egg whites
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups unsweetened coconut flakes or unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (chips, or chopped up)
These look gorgeous, especially with the chocolate piping.
Yummy!
What ridiculously clean and gorgeous photos – these are really very impressive.
Why thank you! You know, sometimes you just get lucky/the stars align, and you get great shots. I’m really still learning as I go!
I’m assuming you mix the coconut flakes with the egg whites and everything?
Yea its the last to go in. I must have deleted that by accident in formatting! Will fix asap
just a quick comment on a beautiful recipe – you don’t say when to add the coconut. just a heads up! lovely pictures!
Ahh yes! Thanks for pointing that out. I’ll have to fix that asap.
Your photos just pop off the screen. I feel like I can taste them from here!
they look adorable and delicious! your photos are amazing
Hi, I’m from Poland and I think that this recipe for coconut macaroons is great and I’m going to try it!
I’ve never had a macaroon, but these look delicious!
Nice photos! I have a family member with celiacs, so I’m going to try making this recipe… looks delicious!
Thanks for the great primal dessert recipe! I think these taste great!
This is my favorite dessert! Sooo incredibly addictive! Will have to try this recipe. Following you now, too!
I have loved coconut macaroons from being a kid so I was really excited to come across this Paleo recipe. I tried it with shredded coconut, because that it all I had from Tropical Traditions. They turned out great ! Only problem was I used a tbs scoop instead of a 2tbs scoop and they break very easily. Do you find yours break easily or not ? Trying to figure out if that is the reason why, or should I add some more ingredient so they bind better ? Thoughts ?
They were pretty delicate for me too, just the nature of the recipe perhaps! You may try making sure you really press the batter firmly before placing on the pan.
They look amazing and they taste great, but one little problem. They were too dry. I doubled the recipe to make more, but I think next time I’d need to add two more egg whites. You’ve never had an issue with them being too dry?
I only made these the one time, and yes they were a bit crumbly – I was following the recipe since I’d never made them before. But if I make them again I think I would add more egg white definitely.
I just made these and OMG they are good. Rather than do the chocolate topper, I added about 1/3 a cup of dark chocolate unsweetened cocoa powder. You probably don’t need that much, but with the powder inside they taste like a brownie!
Hi, these looked lovely so I attempted to make them today but they fell to pieces after I took them out of the oven! Not sure what happened…I pushed them firmly into a press to make them uniform, so they were very compacted when they went into the oven. How can I make them more dense and keep them together? Thoughts? Many thanks!
Hi there! I actually recently made these again and worked out a couple kinks. First I added an extra egg and a little more honey (probay 1-2 TBSPs). Secondly I found these mold together much easier when you use your hands and dip your fingers into a bowl of water before molding them into little pyramid-shaped mounds.
I hope this helps keep your macaroons together! Happy baking
The 3rd egg white makes them much more moist.
How long do these last in a Tupperware box?
I’ve had luck with them lasting almost 2 weeks on the counter. They didn’t really make it long past that. Actually time to make some more I think!
I’m not exactly sure, as they’ve gone pretty fast! But recently I made them and stored them in a tupperware for 3 days before eating them, and I’m sure they would be fine up to a week.
Ok thanks