These are tasty and quite a lot like the regular Coconut Macaroons with sweetened coconut, but are much lower in calories and carbohydrates. The drawback is that the unsweetened coconut doesn’t have the rich taste that sweetened coconut has so the cookie tends to be a little dry and not as rich in flavor. But they are still very good and pretty easy to make.

This is actually the third batch that I made. The first batch used just an egg white as the base, beaten to a stiff meringue, then adding the sugar and coconut. But it didn’t hold up well and came out flat. The second batch, I added 2 tablespoons coconut flour and tried to make them as bars. It worked better, but came out drier and not too pretty. So this batch used CarbQuick along with a little less coconut flour and it worked better, making a stiffer dough that could be rolled into balls. The overall flavor is much better and closer to the ones made with regular shredded coconut.

Cranberry Coconut Macaroons

Small Batch makes 14 to 15 cookies

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded
2 teaspoons coconut extract
3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoon granulated sugar substitute
1 egg white
2 tablespoons carbquick or other low carb flour
1 1/2 tablespoon coconut flour
1 tablespoon egg white powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a cookie sheet by spraying with a cooking spray.

Put the coconut in a bowl and add water , coconut extract and 1 tablespoon of sugar substitute and stir until mixed. Let sit until the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir to fluff.

Beat egg white and salt until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and mix in. Gradually add sugar, then fold in flour. Fold in coconut and cranberries.

Drop by rounded teaspoons about 2″ apart on cookie sheet and shape into balls.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until set and lightly browned. Move pan to a cooling rack and let cool. The cookies will firm up as they cool.

Makes 1 dozen cookies.

Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 51.5 Fat: 3. 7g Net Carbs: 1.4 g Protein: 2.3 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 12/15/2013 7:02 PM