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!