Coconut Macaroons
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Soft and chewy on the inside, crisp and golden on the outside — these are the perfect coconut macaroons.
As a coconut lover, I’ve tried dozens of recipes for coconut macaroons over the years, and these are my all-time favorite. Chewy and rich on the inside, crisp and golden on the outside, they are delicious plain but even more irresistible dipped in dark chocolate. They also keep well for days on end, making them the perfect holiday cookie to bake ahead or give away. (Be sure not to confuse coconut macaroons with French macarons, which are delicate meringue-based sandwich cookies with a sweet filling.)
What You’ll Need To Make Coconut Macaroons
- Sweetened flaked coconut: The base of the macaroons; I recommend Baker’s Angel Flake for the best results, as there’s a lot of variability in coconut depending on the brand.
- Sweetened condensed milk: A key ingredient for making macaroons, sweetened condensed milk is a canned milk product from which water has been removed and sugar has been added. It’s sticky-sweet and makes the best macaroons. Many recipes call for it but, in my experience, they all have the same problem: too much liquid, which causes the sweet batter to pool around the edges of the macaroons and burn in the oven. This is because recipe developers want to keep their recipes neat and tidy with one whole bag of coconut and one full can of sweetened condensed milk. For this recipe, you’ll use just shy of one can. You’ll have to sacrifice some sweetened condensed milk (try adding it to you coffee!), but your macaroons will be perfect.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a lovely depth of flavor.
- Egg whites: Provide structure and help the macaroons hold their shape.
- Salt: Enhances the overall flavor.
- Semi-sweet chocolate (optional): For dipping or drizzling.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla.
Mix until well combined.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form.
Stiff peaks look like this when you lift the beaters out of the bowl.
Add the egg whites to the coconut mixture and fold until combined.
Using a mini ice cream scoop or two spoons, form heaping tablespoons of the mixture into mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until the bottoms and edges are deeply golden and the tops are lightly golden.
Let the macaroons cool on the baking sheet for a minute, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
If you’d like to dip the macaroons in chocolate, melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, stopping to stir every 30 seconds, until just smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, melt in a double boiler over simmering water.) Dip the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate and return to the lined baking sheets.
Refrigerate for about 10 minutes, or until the chocolate is set. That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
Wondering with to do with those leftover egg yolks? Check out these recipes: Chocolate Cream Pie, Coconut Dream Pie, Millionaire’s Shortbread, Molten Chocolate Cakes, Tres Leches Cake, Rugelach, Banana Pudding Parfaits and Rum Cake.
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Coconut Macaroons
Soft and chewy on the inside, crisp and golden on the outside — these are the perfect coconut macaroons.
Ingredients
- 1 14-oz bag sweetened flaked coconut, such as Baker's Angel Flake (see note)
- ⅞ cup sweetened condensed milk (see note below on measurement)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs whites
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, best quality such as Ghirardelli, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Set two oven racks near the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Use a large rubber spatula to fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.
- Using a mini ice cream scoop or two spoons, form heaping tablespoons of the mixture into mounds on the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back, until the tops and edges are golden. Let cool on the pans for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- If dipping the macaroons in chocolate, melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at medium power, stopping and stirring at 30 second intervals, until just smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water.) Dip the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate, letting any excess drip back into the bowl, and return to the lined baking sheets. Place the macaroons in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set. The cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week.
- Note: There is a lot of variability in coconut depending on the brand you purchase. For the best results, I recommend Baker's Angel Flake (see package in the first picture on this page).
- Note: ⅞ cup = ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons
- Note: Make sure to use parchment paper (NOT wax paper) on the baking sheets. The macaroons will stick to wax paper.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The macaroons can be frozen for up to 3 months. (If you plan to dip them in chocolate, wait until you thaw them to do that.) Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 macaroon (nutritional data includes optional chocolate)
- Calories: 134
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Sugar: 15 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Sodium: 81 mg
- Cholesterol: 4 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Hi Jenny! I am planning on making my own desiccated coconut as i can’t buy the sweetened variety where I live. Should I add extra sugar?
Hi Adele, If you’re going to use desiccated coconut, I think you’d need to use a recipe to sweeten it (instead of just adding extra sugar to the recipe). I’ve never tried it, but found this one online. I’m not certain how this will affect the macaroons, so if you prepare them this way, I’d love to know how they turn out!
I had the same problem–how to moisten and sweeten dried coconut? I helped myself like this – warmed cow’s milk, added some sugar and poured it over shredded coconut. Mixed it up and allowed to cool it down. Sorry, there will be no measurements. Six full teaspoons of sugar on ??? volume of milk. Improvisation is the key for me in kitchen 🙂 (Sorry for my english). And I had only a caramelized milk (Dulce de leche), and not condensed. Result was wonderful, however! Thanks for idea, Jenn!
Has anyone ever tried this with coconut milk? My husband can’t have dairy.
What temperature do you bake the macaroon cookies?
Hi Anne, the macaroons get baked at 325°F.
Hi, tried making the coconut macaroons for the first time and followed your instructions but my macaroons were falling apart when scooping it onto the parchment paper. It looked nothing like your picture and while it was baking, the macaroons became loose 🙁 Can you tell me what might have went wrong or what I can do to make the macaroons more stiff?? Thank You!
Hi Eve, I’m sorry you had trouble with the macaroons! Two possibilities: Did you by chance use evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk by mistake? Also, did you beat the egg whites until stiff?
Hi,
Thank you for your quick reply. Yes! I did use sweet condensed milk but as far as whipping the egg whites to stiff peak I’m not too sure of. I have looked at your picture and watched videos and I stopped the mixer when I thought it was stiff peak but maybe it wasn’t there yet. How long would you say it takes on high speed for the egg whites to get to stiff peak? Thank you !
Hi Eve, If it’s just egg whites with no other ingredients mixed in (like it is in this recipe), it usually takes about 3 – 5 minutes on high. It sounds like you handled the egg whites well if you achieved stiff peaks. I’m wondering if maybe you measured something incorrectly– some people have gotten confused regarding how much sweetened condensed milk they should use– did you use just 7/8 of a cup?
Can these macaroons be frozen with the chocolate or should I freeze them and dip them when they defrost?
Hi Diane, you can freeze them with the chocolate. Enjoy!
Thank you for this easy and super delicious recipe
I wanted to make this for my gluten-allergic boyfriend, who loves coconut. I followed the measurement of ingredients (metric), but I think the amount of condensed milk was not right, since my mixture ended up really really dry. It only called for 207 ml. I’m just wondering if I made a mistake or if the conversion wasn’t accurate. I hope you could help me with this. I still want to make the macaroons! Thank you! 🙂
Hi Enny, I’m sorry these turned out dry for you! The conversion is correct, so I’m wondering what else might’ve gone wrong (as these cookies should be very moist). Are you sure you used sweetened coconut?
Hi, the same happened with mine, but I used unsweetened coconut. Was that the problem?
Hi Zsuzsa, I suspect it was the unsweetened coconut as it has drier texture than sweetened.
I followed the recipe exactly, but the macaroons were too salty. Anyone else have this problem? I used ¼ teaspoon of salt when beating the egg whites as called for in the recipe.
Yes i had the same issue!! I am going to try it again with way less salt. I used kosher salt, that may have been the problem.
Are these gluten free?
Yes!
Just made these based on the wonderful reviews from everyone. Will admit I am not a coconut fan, but made them for my macaroon loving husband for Passover.
Took a small taste and was bowled over….these are fantastic. They have a wonderful buttery flavor and a lovely light texture. Removed them from the oven at 18 minutes because the bottoms were starting to get too brown.
I appreciated that many folks wrote in to say how much they loved these. That is helpful to me when deciding whether or not a recipe is worth pursuing. Thank you…this recipe is a keeper!
Forgot to mention, I dipped these in chocolate and the hubby said they were the best EVER! Will definitely be making these year round….not just at Passover!
I don’t understand the amount of sweetened condensed milk. A can is normally 14 oz., which is about 1 1/4 cup (according to the can, 20 Tb.). So 7 oz. would only be 10 Tb, or a little over 1/2 cup, not 7/8 cup. I measured 7/8 cup and used well over half the can. They just came out of the oven and look pretty good, I just wondered if this was a mistake. Thanks!
Hi Sandy, the 7 oz. are liquid ounces (so just 1 ounce shy of a liquid cup). Hope that clarifies!