Guava Filled Coconut Macaroon Topped With White Chocolate

I always thought the look of coconut macaroons was more appealing than the actual taste. Whenever I would see those plump golden nuggets covered with chocolate, my mouth would water. It seemed like it had the recipe for success, but never did succeed - at least not for me. And then, I realized exactly what was coming in between me and a pleasant macaroon-eating experience: the coconut. I absolutely hate the taste of sweetened shredded coconut.

I guess you can blame this passionate hate on me being a true "Baiana". Being from Bahia, I know what real coconut taste like; most of our traditional dishes call for some type of coconut - coconut milk, shredded coconut, fresh coconut meat and coconut water. As a matter of fact, there is a Brazilian dessert that reminds me of macaroons called, cocada. So, I thought I would try making coconut macaroons with a different type of coconut (something less fake) and boy did the results really paid off!

Coconut macaroons are super simple to make and only consists of a few ingredients. Instead of the sweetened shredded coconut, I used unsweetened coconut flakes. Not only do the flakes taste more like real coconut, but it gives you control of how sweet you want your macaroons. I chose to sweeten my macaroons with condensed milk, another ingredient we frequently use in Brazilian cuisine (particularly desserts). Although I do have a huge sweet tooth, I didn't want my macaroons to be too sweet, because I wanted to fill them with a homemade guava jelly.

After beating my egg whites and folding it into my coconut mixture, I let my macaroons bake for about 25 minutes, until they turned into golden puffs. I sandwiched the guava jelly in between two macaroons, and finished them off with some melted white chocolate! Heaven!!!

Now, I am itching to make these with freshly grated coconut...stay tuned!

Coconut Macaroons

2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
Pinch of salt
3 extra large egg whites

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine coconut flakes, condensed milk and salt until everything is well incorporated. In another bowl, beat egg whites until it stiffens. Fold egg whites into coconut mixture. In a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drop about 2 tablespoon of the batter for each macaroon. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until golden.