Gluten-Free Meringue-Aroons!

       I’ve been making (and eating) macaroons for quite a while now.  I’ve even posted several varieties on my blog, including a Healthy Classic Macaroon and a little more indulgent white chocolate version as well.  They are one of my favorites because I love coconut.

       I’ve also been planning on making a meringue of some sort all summer.  Then, luckiest of coincidences, it happened….I stumbled upon an amazing meringue post by Cupcake Jemma! I’ll include her video below.  She’s fun, creative, and most importantly, she creates some of the most delicious sweet treats around!!!  I felt so inspired by her video that I decided to take her delicious recipe and, well, do what I do best, play around with flavors!

     So today I bring you a hybrid of a meringue and a macaroon which equals….Meringue-aroons!  (I’m pretty sure you’re required to say that with an Aussie accent.)

       I hope you enjoy my version of this delicious Cupcake Jemma recipe…

You’ll need…

4 egg whites

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 cup powdered sugar

1 pinch Himalayan salt

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Yield: 12 cookies

Preheat the oven to 300°F and prepare a cookie sheet by lining with a piece of parchment paper.

     I decided to whip up this recipe using just a hand mixer.  That way I could walk you through the basic steps, since not everyone has a Kitchenaid type mixer.  So to start, we only need medium mixing bowl and a hand mixer with a whisk attachment.
   
      The first step is important...we need to let the eggs come to room temperature before continuing with the recipe.  It's up to you whether you leave them to sit out before or after you separate them.  Either way works fine.

When we separate the egg whites from the yolks, we want to be sure that there are NO yolks mixed in with the whites.  If you don’t have one already, I do suggest picking up an egg separator.  They're inexpensive and just make life a little easier.

Once you have the egg whites separated and at room temp, place them in the mixing bowl and add in the cream of tartar.  Start to whip at medium speed and continue until soft peaks form.

Once the soft peaks appear, turn the mixer up to medium-high.  Now we can begin to add in the sugar, one teaspoon at a time.  It is very important to go slowly with adding the sugar!  Adding too much too quickly is asking for trouble.  The mixture will begin to look glossy with a nice shine to it.

     Once you have whipped in all of the sugar, add the almond extract and a pinch of salt.  Then, *very gently*, fold in the coconut shreds.

Scoop the mixture onto the parchment paper one large spoonful at a time.  This should yield 12 cookies.

      Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Then turn off the oven and let the cookies hang out in there for at least an hour.  I actually allowed mine to sit for a bit longer than that.

      Once they’ve rested, you should be able to pop them right off the paper, without leaving any residue behind.  You'll notice they will have a slightly hollow sound if you flick them.  That means they are light, airy, and baked perfectly!

      
     Now serve and enjoy this wonderfully delicious flavor mash-up! I’d like to thank Cupcake Jemma again for the awesome inspiration.  And seriously, go check out her YouTube channel and follow her if you aren't already!

       Enjoy your meringue-aroons!  I promise it's just as much fun to eat them as it is to say the name!