Coconut Macaroons can be made either with egg whites or without egg whites. I’ve made my Macaroons without egg whites for years so this is my traditional approach if you don’t want to bother with whipping egg whites. I had mixed results with Macaroons with egg whites when I made them with this year which is why I am presenting this as an alternative.

Note: The problem I had was that egg whites fall if left alone for even a few minutes. I have rewritten this recipe so the egg whites are whipped AFTER the sweeteend condensed milk is ready. If your egg whites aren’t perfect sharp peaks then just make the Macaroons without them (and I’m still not certain about egg whites in Macaroons despite the infinite number of recipes that call for them).

Ingredients

  • 4 Large Egg Whites
  • Dash Cream of Tartar
  • Dash salt
  • 1 can, 14 oz, sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 packages (7 oz each) sweetened shredded coconut

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 325.

  2. In a standing mixer, beat the sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice on high speed until thickened, about 3 minutes.

  3. Stir in salt, lemon zest, baking powder and coconut. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and put aside until the egg whites are ready.

  4. Clean the bowl of the standing mixer thoroughly – even a trace of contaminant and egg whites will never get to stiff peaks.

  5. Add to the bowl of the standing mixer, the egg whites and the cream of tartar. Whip at high speed until stiff peaks. If you have a Kitchen Aid then this is 7 minutes at top speed.

  6. Fold the egg whites into the lemon / coconut mixture.

  7. Drop mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 in. apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

  8. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

  9. Cool on pans for 2 minutes.

  10. Remove to wire racks to cool.