Family Recipe: Coconut Macaroons

While I was on vacation in PEI, I spent a lot of time with my mom, aunt, and cousins talking about the blog and cooking, baking, and recipes in general. Everyone has their favorites that they make over and over again and pull out of the book when they need something quick and easy that's a guaranteed hit. My aunt wrote out a recipe for me that she insisted I try out. She's made it over and over and said it had never failed her. It looked so tasty and easy that I just couldn't resist giving it a try.

 Aunt Linda's Coconut Macaroons
(slightly modified)

1 300 mL can of sweetened condensed milk
4 1/2 cups shredded coconut (I used half sweetened and half unsweetened)
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix ingredients until combined. Scoop by rounded tablespoonful onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown and set. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Makes 45-50 macaroons.

Super simple ingredients

Fresh out of the oven

I made the macaroons to bring to a girls get together over the weekend but I thought they needed to be gussied up a little bit. A little chocolate never hurt anything, right? I melted about half a cup of chocolate chips in the microwave and put the melted chocolate into a small zip top bag, cut off a bit in the corner, and used it as a quick fix piping bag. 

I like coconut but I didn't think I was going to like these nearly as much as I did. They were a huge hit with the girls too. At one point I may have asked how many macaroons was too many macaroons. The response I heard was "I've already had four...". I would say that's a sign of a good recipe. They were crunchy and crispy around the edges and on the bottoms but the middle stayed so nice and chewy. They were sweet without being too sweet. All in all, a great result. Thanks Aunt Linda - you were right. These are certainly worth making again and again. 

Do you have any favorite (easy) family recipes?