Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

This evening I was on a mission to bake a treat made with a family member's favorite sweet ingredient: coconuts. Since I will be visiting with family tomorrow, I thought, why not make something delicious? The first type of baked good that came to mind was macaroons. Having never made macaroons before, I sought out a recipe that was loved by many reviewers (supposedly it's won blue-ribbon fair contests) and seemed pretty easy. To add some presentation to the macaroons, I melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips which I dipped the macaroons in and drizzled on the macaroons using a plastic bag with the corner snipped off. 

If you want the recipe for the macaroons, follow along! 

Yield: about 2 dozen golf ball sized macaroons

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup all purpose flour (or 10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons)
• 5 1/2 cup flaked coconut (a 14 oz bag equals this)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper
• In a large bowl stir together the flour, coconut flakes, and salt
• Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, mixing well with your hands
• Refrigerate dough for a few minutes or so to make it easier to scoop the dough on to the cookie sheets
• Use an ice cream scoop to line the cookie sheets with dough
• Bake for approximately 15-18 minutes (or until you notice some coconut flakes are toasted). Careful not to bake too long as these can burn or toughen easily!

To dip in chocolate, heat the desired amount of chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 second increments, stirring after each increment, until you have a smooth chocolatey mixture. Dip the bottoms of each macaroon in the chocolate, placing it back on the wax paper. Afterwards, scoop the remaining chocolate in a ziploc or pastry bag with the corner cut off. Drizzle chocolate over the macaroons and let the chocolate set in the fridge or on the counter. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Spooooky Halloween Cookies

Greetings everyone! So given how we're now in the month of October and this is my first post, I thought I would start things off with a Halloween cookie recipe made with dark chocolate sugar cookies and topped with marshmallow fondant. 

I followed Sweetapolita's dark chocolate sugar cookie recipe, which I halved. 

Next, feel free to use a pre-made fondant, but I decided to make some from scratch (recipe below). I then used Wilton's ready-to-use gel tubes to draw on the ghost faces.

Marshmallow Fondant

Yield: About 2 1/4 lbs of fondant

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 16 oz mini marshmallows 
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioner's sugar, divided

Steps:

• Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.
• Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.
• Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Then, cut  the fondant using the same cookie cutter you used for the sugar cookies and use a clean paint brush lightly dipped in water to apply water or corn syrup to the cookies so the fondant will stick. Use the ready-to-use gel tubes to draw on your ghost faces (optional). 

To freeze and use some for later, just form a ball and tightly wrap in plastic wrap.

Enjoy your spoooky treats!