You can't get something much richer than a macroon dipped in dark chocolate. So I was trying to think of a way to add a different flavor to all of the sweetness and richness. What I came up with is this recipe for macaroons with lime, still with the dark chocolate. And they're good! They're also kind of interesting as a holiday cookie, because lime is a tropical or summer flavor, but it's kind of nice to each something zesty this time of year.
Macaroons are pretty straight-forward and easy to make. I did have a couple of issues with this recipe, though. For one, I had one baking sheet of cookies on the bottom rack of the oven, and those burnt. So try and put both baking sheets on the top rack of the oven, or back in two batches. I also didn't use cooling racks and left the cookies to cool on the baking sheets, and they ended up getting a little stuck to the pans. So definitely put them on racks when you take them out of the oven.
Happy Holidays!
Lime Macaroons Dipped in Dark Chocolate
Makes about two dozen
1 egg
2/3 C sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 1/2 C sweetened shredded coconut
1 T lime zest
juice of 1 lime
approx. 1 4-ounce bar of dark chocolate
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or grease.
2. In bowl, wisk egg and beat until light. Gradually beat in the sugar, vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Fold in the coconut.
3. Drop batter by heaping teaspoons onto the baking sheets, making mounds and spacing about 1.5 inches apart.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes on top rack of oven. Turn off heat and let cookies dry in the oven for 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool. The insides should be soft while outsides crisp.
5. Melt chocolate in microwave or on stove top. Once macaroons are cool, dip the flat part of each in chocolate and transfer to waxed paper. After dipping all macaroons, refrigerate until chocolate has hardened.
