Tropical Cranberry Macaroons

It’s posting day for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, partnering with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. For the swap part of the FB Cookie Swap, I sent a dozen Tropical Cranberry Macaroons to each of three other food bloggers, and I received cookies from three completely different food bloggers! I hope they enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed creating them – and eating the ones I got! ?

I changed up my favorite Passover macaroon recipe by adding one of my new favorite ingredients, Paradise Meadow Julienne Cranberries. Because, cranberries. And these are really special. Since the cranberries are shredded (or julienne), the texture works naturally with the shredded coconut in the macaroons. By the way, I discovered Paradise Meadow when I attended the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, last October, and found out that it’s a Massachusetts cranberry company on Cape Cod! These dried cranberries are non-GMO certified, and contain only 3 ingredients: cranberries, sugar, and sunflower oil. More about Paradise Meadow and some of their really delicious products, soon.

But, back to the cookies!

Tropical Cranberry Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 6 large egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 10 oz. (by weight) fine almond meal
• 8 oz. (by weight) unsweetened dried coconut
• Grated zest and juice of 1 large (or 2 smaller) limes
• 7 oz package julienne dried cranberries (I used Paradise Meadow Julienne Cooking & Baking Cranberries)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Prepare 2 cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.

In a large glass or metal bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff. While continuing to beat, add the sugar in 4 parts.

Fold in the almond meal, coconut, lime zest and juice, followed by the julienned cranberries, continuing to fold until everything is completely incorporated. You should have a very thick, scoop-able batter.

Mound by tablespoonfuls (I used a #30 scoop, about 1-1/2″ across) onto the prepared pans, about 1/2″ apart, and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Allow to cool completely on the pans, before removing to racks with an offset spatula.

Makes about 4-1/2 dozen cookies.

Notes:

If you can’t find unsweetened dried coconut (I got mine at Whole Foods in the bulk food section), you can use the usual sweetened coconut that you find in the baking section of your grocery store. Just reduce the sugar to 1 cup. I think this makes the macaroons less cloyingly sweet and you don’t have big shreds of coconut to deal with. Your choice.

The lime really enhances the flavor of the almond and coconut, while at the same time cutting the sweetness a bit and adding a fresh note. The cranberries add a subtle fresh tartness that ties all of the flavors together.

I hope you’ll make these for your holiday cookie trays and gifts. They’re easy to make, and even low-fat and gluten-free. But you won’t be thinking about that. You’ll only think about how good they are.

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Want to swap with us, next year? Click on the badge and get yourself on the notifications list! The more the merrier, and the more money we can help raise for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer!

Thanks to the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2015 brand partners, each of whom will match our donation to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, dollar for dollar (up to $3000)! And for the lovely gifts they sent to participants.  This year, with their help, we raised $7,000, and we are all grateful!

To see all the cookies swapped this year, be sure to check Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag: #fbcookieswap. But be warned – there are HUNDREDS of them! Get lost in the beauty of cookies!