Coconut Macaroons

This post was inspired by my Grandma, who is currently recovering from fracturing her pelvis in two places, and therefore deserved a sweet treat. Whenever I go to my Grandma's house we always have tea, and a tin of biscuits is brought out for dunking, in this tin are usually coconut macaroons, a favourite among the whole family. I for one have missed these sweet treats since turning vegan and before that could only eat a small amount as shop brought ones are definitely not diabetic friendly. So I created this super easy recipe, containing only 6 ingredients, for vegan, gluten free, diabetic friendly macaroons.

The main ingredient for this recipe is desiccated coconut, which is just grated coconut that has been dried. It contains no cholesterol or trans fats while being rich in a number of essential nutrients, including dietary fibre, manganese, copper and selenium. A high intake of dietary fibre from foods like coconut could help prevent stroke, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, high blood cholesterol, diabetes and digestive disorders. While manganese helps regulate energy metabolism, copper plays a crucial role in the production of collagen and red blood cells, and the body uses selenium to produce selenoproteins, enzymes that support thyroid and immune system function. Make sure to purchase unsweetened desiccated coconut for this recipe!

Traditionally macaroons are made from egg whites, I veganised this by using aquafaba. If you are wondering what in god's name is aquafaba? Trust me you probably won't be alone. But this complicated sounding ingredient is actually just the water from a can of chickpeas or beans. In this recipe I used chickpeas, which I would suggest also using but if you feel like experimenting you could try other beans, I imagine the water from black beans could create rather spooky looking macaroons, maybe perfect for upcoming Halloween. (I couldn't write a whole blog post and not mention Halloween I'm utterly obsessed with it at the moment!)

These surprisingly healthy little treats are perfect paired with a cup of afternoon tea, and a quick moment to relax from our hectic lives.

Makes around 15 macaroons

Ingredients

Aquafaba from 1 can of chickpeas (around 160ml)

4 teaspoons of fruit syrup/ agave nectar (I used this one)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 cups of desiccated coconut

1 cup of ground almonds

Blanched almonds for topping

Method

1) Place the aquafaba, fruit syrup and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk. Whisk untill the aquafaba is very frothy and there are a lot of bubbles.

2) Add the desiccated coconut and ground almonds to the bowl and mix.

3) Form the mixture into small balls and place on a tray lined with grease proof paper.

4) Top each ball with a blanched almond.

5) Place in the oven at 200'c for 10 minutes or until the macaroons are golden brown.