Just a quick post today because these Coconut Macaroon cookies made my day.

I’m not a very good baker.

At all.

I love baked goods, but I tend to get way too, eh, creative in measuring and I like making substitutions to recipes which usually means they turn out terribly.

So I usually leave it to the pros.

But these Coconut Macaroons are fool proof to make, because the person who wrote the recipe is a pro.  Even if you’ve never cooked anything in your life, you can make this Coconut Macaroon recipe.

The recipe comes from my absolute favorite famous chef, Mark Bittman.  He writes a fabulous column for the New York Times.  Even better than his articles and recipes are his adorable cooking videos he has on the New York Times website.  He also writes a great blog and offers great links on Twitter.  If you’re interested in where your food comes from, eating great and healthy dishes, cooking meals without a lot of fuss, look him up.

Back to the macaroons.

I love coconut.  Whenever I go into a bakery the first things that catch my eyes are things filled with or topped with toasted coconut.  These cookies are perfect to satisfy my craving for coconut, because there aren’t any other flavors in them to compete with the coconut.

The only ingredients are coconut, sugar, egg whites, vanilla extract, and salt.  They come together in less than a couple of minutes, and only take 15 minutes to bake.  They freeze really well.  You really need to make a batch of these.  And send me some.

The recipe is here for The Ultimate Minimalist Macaroon.

After spending a couple of weeks in Florida with my mom and sister, I still wasn’t ready to head back to Syracuse and responsibility.  So I didn’t.  Instead of taking my connecting flight from JFK – SYR, I schlepped my big hot pink suitcase to Jersey City to spend a few days with my uncle.  We had a great time: spent 3 hours walking around Lincoln State Park, went to Atlantic City for an afternoon, saw Avatar in 3D, watched old home movies, and ate falafel.  General uncle + niece things that I love.

Next, I headed to Brooklyn and while I had a slight mass transit nightmare on the way I made it to my friend Dan’s apartment in one piece.  I had a great time with Dan!  We got to meet up with my childhood best friend, made up rules to play shuffleboard, had awesome burgers (hold the beef on mine, thanks), and be lazy for a few days.

It was really sweet of  my uncle and Dan to host me so I could escape reality for a few more days, so I decided to thank them.  With food, naturally.  Dan requested key lime white chocolate cookies, because he’s fancy like that.  I hesitated initially because I dislike white chocolate a LOT, but found a recipe and gave it a whirl.  They came out pretty great.  The picture, however, did not.  The recipe is here.

Next, I figured cookies weren’t enough, so I made granola, of course.  Coconut Almond Granola to be exact.  I even used measuring devices and wrote down the exact recipe this time!

I packed it up in small plastic containers that I reused from the supermarket for easy shipping.

Coconut Almond Granola

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1 T soymilk
• pinch of salt
• dash of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line a baking tray with parchment.  In a bowl, combine the brown sugar with the soymilk.  Stir to combine, and microwave for 30 seconds, until the sugar is melted.  Add the salt and cinnamon, then the oats, coconut, and almonds.  Mix well, and pour onto the baking tray into an even layer.  Bake for 10 minutes to begin with, stir.  Bake in additional 5 minute intervals, stirring after each interval, until it is lightly golden, smells nutty, and sounds crispy (trust me on this one).  Cool to room temperature and pack in airtight containers.

Notes:

• This batch took 10 + 5+ 5 + 2 minutes to be the way I like it.  Use this as a guideline.  Never walk away from baking granola!
• Almonds are really easy to chop for baking, so instead of buying them ground or flaked, I just buy them whole so they are good for snacking and baking.
• If you still need to be convinced that making your own granola is worth it, I ran numbers:  the total cost of making this recipe is right around $2.46, which works out to about $.31 per serving.  The same amount in the grocery store can be as high as $6.99 or $.87 per serving.  No brainer.