Simple Cacao-Dipped Coconut Macaroons
Chewy, golden coconut macaroons with crisp edges and tender centers, dipped in a simple homemade chocolate. Just four organic ingredients, plus a pinch of salt and vanilla, and naturally sweetened with coconut sugar.
Yield: About 18 macaroons · Active: 20 min · Total: 1 hr (including baking and setting) · Year-round (coconuts grow year-round in tropical regions) · Best eaten: afternoon
Ingredients
Macaroons
3 cups organic unsweetened shredded coconut
3 organic pasture-raised egg whites (from large eggs)
½ cup organic coconut sugar
¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Optional: 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Cacao dip
2 oz organic cacao butter (about ⅓ cup chopped)
⅓ cup organic raw cacao powder
3 tbsp organic coconut sugar, ground to a fine powder
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Flaky sea salt, for finishing (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Whisk the whites. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites, coconut sugar, salt, and optional vanilla for about 1 minute, until foamy and the sugar starts to dissolve.
Fold in the coconut. Stir in the shredded coconut until it's evenly coated. Let the mixture rest 10 minutes, so the coconut soaks up the whites and the macaroons hold together.
Scoop. Use a tablespoon or small cookie scoop to pack the mixture into firm mounds, and set them 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Squeezing them firmly keeps them from crumbling.
Bake 18-22 minutes, until golden brown on the edges and bottoms. Coconut sugar browns more than white sugar, so expect a deep golden color.
Cool completely on the baking sheet; they firm up as they cool.
Make the cacao dip. Grind the coconut sugar into a fine powder in a blender or spice grinder (granules won't dissolve in the chocolate and will stay gritty). Gently melt the cacao butter over very low heat or in a double boiler. Take it off the heat and whisk in the cacao powder, powdered coconut sugar, and a pinch of salt until smooth and glossy.
Dip. Dip the bottom of each cooled macaroon into the chocolate, let the extra drip off, and set it back on the parchment. Drizzle any leftover chocolate over the tops, and finish with a pinch of flaky salt if you like.
Set. Refrigerate 15 minutes, until the chocolate is firm.
Using 100% cacao instead? Melt 3 oz organic 100% cacao paste or chocolate with 1 tbsp cacao butter, then whisk in the powdered coconut sugar and salt.
Save the yolks: Use your leftover egg yolks in Homemade Ice Cream, or whisk them into scrambled eggs.
Make It Your Own
Almond: Swap the vanilla for ½ tsp pure almond extract and press a whole almond into the top of each macaroon before baking.
Orange: Stir the zest of 1 orange into the macaroon mixture.
Raspberry: Fold ¼ cup crushed freeze-dried raspberries into the mixture.
Extra crunch: Sprinkle cacao nibs over the chocolate before it sets.
Fully dipped: Double the cacao dip and dunk the whole macaroon.
Storage
Refrigerated: Up to 1 week in an airtight container. Homemade cacao-butter chocolate softens at warm room temperature, so it keeps best chilled
Frozen: Up to 3 months. Let them sit out 10 minutes before eating
Nourishment Notes
Coconut — fiber, manganese, copper, and lauric acid, a medium-chain fat. Unsweetened shredded coconut keeps these macaroons naturally rich and chewy without any added oils.
Pasture-raised egg whites — protein that binds everything together and gives the macaroons their chewy, crisp-edged texture.
Raw cacao — flavanols, magnesium, iron, and theobromine, a gentle natural stimulant. That makes these best as an afternoon treat rather than a late-evening one.
Cacao butter — a stable, naturally solid fat (mostly stearic and oleic acids) that gives the homemade chocolate its snap.
Coconut sugar — a minimally processed sweetener made from coconut blossom sap, with trace minerals. It's still sugar, so enjoy these as a treat.
Sourcing
Shredded coconut — organic, unsweetened, and sulfite-free; Terrasoul makes one
Coconut sugar — organic
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm where the hens truly range on pasture, or Alexandre Family Farm (Regenerative Organic Certified). Separate your own; store-bought cartoned egg whites are pasteurized and often from conventional eggs
Raw cacao powder — organic, and ideally tested for heavy metals, since cacao can carry cadmium and lead from the soil. Pachamana publishes its heavy metal test results
Cacao butter — organic, unrefined, and fair-trade
Vanilla (optional) — organic pure vanilla extract with no added sugar
Baja Gold sea salt for the macaroons; Maldon or fleur de sel de Guérande for finishing
— Anna aka Food Marshall