Almond Macaroons & Gluten-free Coconut Macaroons

Last minute baking right before the holidays is one of my favourite things to do. Especially when I have some easy cookie recipes on hand. Macaroons have always been my favourite because they usually called for only a few ingredients. Over the years I tried to come up with vegan coconut macaroons that were as good as the ones made with eggs: crispy on the outside with and soft and moist on the inside. My original recipe was close, but it had ingredients that caused problems. Some people asked me how to make these gluten-free. Others asked for a coconut flour and a psyllium husk substitute, since these ingredients can be pretty hard to find or tend to be pricey. So I changed my recipe a bit, halved it, left out the flour, substituted brown rice flour for the coconut flour and flax for the psyllium and what can I say? These vegan coconut macaroons are the best I ever had. They are both crispy and moist and they have a caramelised sugar bottom which makes these cookies so special to me.

While the coconut macaroons recipe required some hard work, recipe testing, and tweaking, the almond macaroon recipe was a delicious coincidence. I just whipped up some ingredients I had on hand and the result was a soft and mild cookie with a crackled top. I haven’t come up with a gluten-free version for these yet, but maybe you experiment with the first recipe and use ground almonds instead of shredded coconut. Oh, and if you want something fancy, make matcha coconut macaroons with chocolate by adding one tablespoon of matcha powder to the recipe above and then dip them in some semisweet chocolate.

Gluten-free Coconut Macaroons (makes 21)
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons brown rice flour
120 ml (1/2 cup) soy milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon lime juice (to taste, optional)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
100 g (1 cup) finely shredded dried coconut

Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flax and soy milk in a bowl and let sit for five minutes. Add remaining ingredients except for dried coconut. Mix well and add coconut. Use your hands to form a sticky dough.Form macaroons with your hands and place on a baking sheet. (The amount of dough for each macaroon should be walnut sized.) Bake for 20 minutes, until the bottoms have caramelised nicely.

Note: These are best fresh out of the oven, cool to room temperature. If you store them, they will soften. Please make sure not to store them in airtight containers, or they will become a little sticky.

Almond Macaroons ( 21 Stück)
60 g (1/4 cup) soy yoghurt or silken tofu
60 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
50 g (1/2 cup) ground almonds
75 g (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sugar
80 g whole spelt flour or whole wheat flour
20 g (3 tablespoons) cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Puree yoghurt (or tofu) and oil and transfer to a bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Use your hands to form a sticky dough. Roll into equally sized balls and press them down slightly. Place on the baking sheets leaving some room and bake for nine minutes. Let cool and serve immediately.

Merry Christmas!