Coconut Macaroons

After our big Saturday night out, Sunday was a long and lazy one at home. So much so, that by the afternoon, I started to feel a touch sloth like. All four of us chillin' in PJ's. all. day. What better way to get motivated when the weather offers no outdoor options... than to hit the kitchen and bake! Creating something tasty to eat always gives me a sense of accomplishment (and also successfully defeats the inertia).

Hitting up the old favourite Women's Weekly COOK book, I chose a mouthwatering classic. Enjoyed plenty of these over the years, but never attempted them myself. With my baking supplies container full to the brim following a big Christmas stock up last week, I had the one ingredient I'm always missing when I go to bake these... glace cherries. Being a coconut lover, these beauties hit the spot, on a rainy cold Sunday. A side note with the recipe suggests variations to coconut, in the form of ground almonds or hazelnuts. Personally, I can't get enough of these for the coconut. 

Note: Mine turned out looking a little more like rock cakes, than macaroons. Due to my failure to comprehend 'slow. oven'. in the method. So 150 degrees is a tad 'too' hot for my oven. Whoops! The flavour still every bit as lovely as I hoped it would be though.

Coconut Macaroons

2 egg whites

1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 1/2 cups (120g) desiccated coconut

6 glace cherries, quartered

Preheat oven to slow (150/130 degrees fan-forced)

Line oven trays with baking paper

Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form

Gradually add sugar, beating until dissolved after each addition

Stir in extract, sifted flour and coconut, in two batches

Drop level tablespoons of the mixture 5cm apart into trays

Place a cherry quarter on top of each macaroon

Bake, uncovered, about 40 mins or until browned lightly

Cool on trays