Coconut Macarons For The Win!

Yes, Yes another macaron recipe, I know. I'm addicted to baking these little cookies. I didn't plan on making these but my uncle wanted them, so I baked them. He requested coconut so I made a small batch of these. Also I think it's fun to come up with new flavor combos. They turned out lovely, and I'm getting fat from eating macarons all the time. I decided on toasting the coconut because I think they have a nuttier flavor, and they look pretty.

Toasted Coconut Macarons

They have that delicious tropical taste, with a yummy toasted coconut buttercream filling. I'm glad my uncle suggested this flavor. If you are a fan of coconut you should definitely try these out. You only need a few extra ingredients added to a basic macaron recipe and bam you are done. Let's start with what you need. 

Toasted Coconut Macaron Shell

• 65g of Almond Meal
• 65g of Powdered Sugar
• 50g of Room Temperature Egg Whites
• 50g of Granulated Sugar
• 20g of Toasted Coconut (For Tops of Shell)

Toasted Coconut Buttercream Filling

• 1 Stick of Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)
• 1 cup of Powdered Sugar
• 1 tablespoon of milk 
• 20g of Toasted Coconut
• 2 tablespoon of Coconut Extract

Just like every macaron recipe you need to begin by;

First you need to sift the almond meal, and powdered sugar together in a large bowl and set aside

I then took 20g of shredded coconut and placed it in a small pan on med/high heat and just kept stirring. The coconut will turn a toasted brown color, you must watch it carefully because this will burn easily, just keep stirring. It should look like this. When it looks like this take it out of the pan and place in a small bowl and set aside (remember the pan is still hot so it will continue to cook, thats why you need to place in a bowl once it reaches this stage)

Take your room temperature egg whites and beat them on a medium speed until they become white and frothy, slowly pour in your granulated sugar. Your egg whites will start to form soft peaks continue beating your eggs until stiff peaks form.  ( I set a timer this should take about 7-8 minutes on medium speed)  I didn't take the picture of this, you should refer to the previous posts to look at pictures.

Now add in your dry ingredients and carefully fold ingredients together (about 50 folds if you are counting) stop when you reach a lava like consistency or when it ribbons off of your spatula

Place your mixture in a piping bag with a round tip attached. I like to place my piping bag in a tall cup because it is so much easier that way.

Pipe out 1.5 inch circles on a parchment lined baking sheet. I then placed the toasted coconut on top of each shell

Preheat your oven to 295F.

Bang your tray against the counter to release those hidden air bubbles and let these macarons dry on the counter for about 30 minutes ( I like to leave mine out 1 hour). Gently tap the side of a macaron to see if a shell has formed, they are ready to go in the oven when they are dry to the touch.

While you are waiting for those to dry lets make the filling.

Take your butter and place it in your mixer and beat for 4 minutes, you will notice that the butter will turn a pale yellow color and increase in size.

I then added the powdered sugar to the butter mixture ( I sifted it first because I like it smooth) then whip a bit more, till smooth

I then pour the coconut extract and toasted coconut into the buttercream and mix till combined, I already took half of the buttercream out because I was filling my piping bag when this picture was taken. (This recipe makes a smaller batch of buttercream than the cream cheese butter cream recipe, but after filling these macarons I still had enough to fill another dozen or so macarons)

So after that I filled a disposable piping bag with some of the filling. 

Place the piping bag full of buttercream in the fridge while your macarons are baking.

Ok, place your macaron shells in the 295F oven for 14 minutes total. Rotate the tray halfway so after 7 minutes.

Everyone's oven is different so just keep an eye on them, when they start to peel off of the parchment paper they are done. I then leave them on the hot baking tray for 1 minute and then slide the macarons on the counter, still attached to the parchment paper, for about 2-3 more minutes.

I then match them up with a top and a bottom of similar sizes and get them ready to fill. Oh and look at the close up of those pretty coconut macarons. 

Getting ready for the filling

Take your buttercream out of the fridge and pipe the toasted coconut buttercream on one side of the macaron and sandwich another macaron on top. 

Look how cute these are

Voilá you now have a toasted coconut macaron. I then place all my assembled macarons on a tray and place in the fridge for 24-48 hours. This is maturing your macaron and it makes them taste amazing. Then when it's time to eat them let them come up to room temperature. They taste so much better then.

Yumz!!!!!!! crunchy outside, chewy inside, smooth buttercream