Back in my grad school days Harvard Square had an Au Bon Pain, which is a bakery / casual lunch spot with soups and sandwiches.
Not sure what happened to it, but it’s no longer there. My favs to get at this spot were a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast (this usually happened around noon due to my grad student lifestyle and schedule – AKA no schedule), a thai chicken wrap for lunch (which usually happened around dinner, naturally) and occasionally I would loosen up and treat myself to a thick chunky coconut macaroon with cranberries mixed in and dipped in chocolate.
You know one of those 600-cal bakery cookies that you kid yourself with and consider it single-serving indulgence.
Every grad student needs to become delusional with food (and drink) occasionally.
I found myself craving one the other day and out came this recipe. I made 4 cookies instead of that one giant one and it totally satisfied the itch.
Perfectly chewy, sticky, coconut-y, chocolate-y, but portion controlled and a bit less mega high glycemic.
It was also great to share with the fam. No leftovers to tempt me the rest of the week.
So if you’re like me and crave such a treat every now and then, hope you give this recipe a try!
Mini-batch Coconut Macaroon Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (14 g) sub (plant) butter, melted
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (21 g)
- pinch of salt
- drop of vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp flour (14 g) regular all purpose, gf all purpose, almond meal, coconut flour all work
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut (30 g) I use unsweetened, small flakes
- 2 tbsp chopped dried cranberries (20 g)
Chocolate dip
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips (45 g)
- 1 tsp coconut oil (5 g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and line a cookie sheet with parchment.
- In a small bowl add coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, vanilla, and microwave 20 seconds to melt the oil, stir to combine.
- Add flour and coconut, mix it all up. Make sure all of the batter is wet and you get something that sticks together, otherwise add tsp more maple or oil. Fold in the chopped cranberries.
- Make balls of dough and flatten gently. Bake 12-15 minutes until they're slightly golden.
- Let them cool completely (this is necessary for them to firm up and get all chewy).
- In a small bowl add chocolate and coconut oil. Microwave 30 sec at a time to melt it all together. Dip cooled macaroons (there will be chocolate left to use for something else) and refrigerate to set the chocolate. Enjoy!
Notes
- If your shredded coconut is in large flakes you can pulse them in a food processor until they resemble quick oats (small flakes).