Loco for Coco Puffs

“Merely going to the temple and offering worship offering a coconut, expecting some reward — all these are a wrong way of understanding devotion.”

– Sri Sathya Sai Baba, spiritual leader

That’s right, you can’t just offer up a coconut and expect that anyone will pay attention. But, turn that coconut into some macaroons (not the fussy French macarons made out of baked meringues and fillings and selling for stupid amounts of money in pastry shops) and offer up a plate of those, and just maybe your prayers will be answered. I mean, in the U.S., we even have a National Macaroon Day – who knew? I didn’t find out until later afternoon on May 31st when I spotted an article on the internet about it. And you know I’m always looking for ways to use up those extra egg whites… actually, macaroons are probably the most common thing I make with them, after, perhaps, egg white omelets. They’re really quick and easy:

The ingredient list is short, and likely consists of things you have in your pantry. 100 grams (1-1/3 cup) of shredded coconut, 75 grams (1/3 cup) sugar, 10 grams (2 tablespoons) cake flour, large pinch of salt, 2 egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon extract flavor of your choice (here I used a splash of vanilla and a splash of orange).

Now, what I really do is just measure them all out into one bowl, because all you’re going to do is end up dumping them all in together.

Mix thoroughly, I tend to use a fork because it helps for breaking up any clumps of the coconut. You’ll end up with a mixture that has the texture of fairly wet, coarse sand.

If you want to make them look pretty, put the mixture in a piping bag with a fairly open star type tip – don’t use a really fine star because the coconut will never pass through it.

Pipe them out on a greased baking sheet in whatever size you like – I tend to make them about the size of a whole walnut. You can also scoop them out with a melon baller, or with a tablespoon, or simply roll balls of the mixture with your hands.