Tender yet chewy, sweet and satisfying, Coconut macaroons are great to make if you’re baking for a gluten or dairy free diet.

If you have an ice cream scoop handy, it makes for super neat portioning. Plus, have a think about what additions you could make to the mix. Dried cherry, lime zest, crystyllised ginger, my favourite – ground cardamom, all work well with coconut and can be thrown in to taste.

Makes 12 large macaroons

Source

200g caster sugar

250g desiccated coconut

4 egg whites

Pinch of salt

½ tsp vanilla paste

100g dark chocolate

Action

Preheat your oven to 180c.

Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.

Combine the sugar and coconut together in a large bowl and mix through. Set to one side.

Carefully separate the eggs into a large, super clean bowl – for our younger cooks, show them how to tip the broken egg from shell to shell, allowing the egg white dribble through into a clean bowl.  Set the egg yolks aside in a sealed container – great for making Lemon Curd or mayonnaise, they freeze well too.

Add a pinch of salt and the vanilla paste to the egg whites and beat well using a ballon whisk until stiff peaks form. This can take up to five minutes.

In three goes, add the coconut & sugar and mix through gently to make a stiff paste.

Place the batter in uniform heaps onto the baking tray – I made large gold ball-sized portions, with my hands, and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden.

Allow to cool on the tray.

When you're ready to dress the macaroons, it's time to melt the chocolate.

Break the chocolate into small pieces, into a small saucepan. Over a super low heat, slowly melt down, stirring now and again, until all the chocolate chunks dissapear. Remove from heat immediately and set to oneside.

Dip the flat side of each macaroon into the melted chocolate and leave to set on a fresh piece of parchment.

Delicious with fresh strawberries.