Coconut Macaroons For Easter and Passover

[AGBF]

It is Passover and Holy Week. (OK, today is actually Good Friday, traditionally a day of fasting, but Easter is coming very soon. Macaroons can be and are eaten (depending on the preparation in the case of Orthodox Jews) on both Passover and Easter. I saw this article in "The New York Times" today and saved it.


Coconut Macaroons, Two Easy Ways
"Make a candylike version with all coconut and an egg white, or use a whole egg and almond flour for a more cakelike result.,"

Credit...Melissa Clark



"Coconut macaroons might just be the easiest and most forgiving of all cookies. You don’t need a mixer. You don’t need flour. The amounts are just suggestions. And you can flavor them any way you like. Plus, the fluffy little morsels are perfect for both Passover and Easter.
This year, I experimented with two different versions, and both were fantastic, albeit strikingly different. One was traditional, made up of egg white, sugar and shredded coconut. The other used a whole egg (I didn’t feel like separating it), and a combination of coconut and ground almonds.
The all-coconut and egg white cookies were slightly sweeter and more candylike, with a crunchy shell and soft interior, while the almond-coconut-whole-egg version was softer through and through, and more cakelike.

Here’s how to make them: In a bowl, whisk the egg (white or whole) until frothy. Add 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut to the egg white, or a half-cup each coconut and ground almonds to the whole egg. You can use almond flour, or you can grind the nuts yourself; if grinding yourself, you can make the whole thing in the food processor, so you don’t have to dirty a bowl. And if you have sweetened coconut, just use less sugar.

Mix in 1/4 cup sugar (2 tablespoons, if you used sweetened coconut), a pinch of salt and a flavoring. I used a dash of orange blossom water, but an extract — vanilla, almond, coconut, lemon, orange — would work. Some grated citrus zest is a good choice, too.
I let the mixtures sit for 30 minutes, so the coconut could absorb all the liquid. (Otherwise the egg sometimes pools at the bottom of the macaroons while they bake.) Then, I wet my hands to keep the mix from sticking and rolled them into balls. I placed some on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and some in mini-muffin tins. (You can grease the tins or line with paper holders.)

Then I baked them at 350 degrees for 13 minutes. My macaroons were small. If yours are large, it could take up to 20 minutes. Keep checking: They are done when the tops are firm and the edges golden.

Each batch yielded about 10 small macaroons, but you could double or triple the recipe, depending on your self-isolating situation. They are festive and cute, and you can embellish them by folding the likes of chocolate chips, pistachio nuts, candied ginger or chopped dried fruit into the batter. They don’t keep long, maybe a day or two before getting hard and crusty. But eating them quickly shouldn’t be a problem."

 

[missy]

Thanks for starting this thread @AGBF. Greg is a big fan of macaroons. All kinds.








For those who may be unfamiliar with the history but interested in the why.

"Culinary historians write that macaroons can be traced to an Italian monastery of the 8th or 9th century. ... Italian Jews later adopted the cookie because it has no flour or leavening (macaroons are leavened by egg whites) and can be eaten during the eight-day observation of Passover."

 

[AGBF]

Thank you for sharing those beautiful photos, missy, and also the history of how the macaroon became incorporated in Passover. I didn't know that.

For people who do not know about the Jewish feast of Passover, it celebrates the Jews' successful escape from slavery in Egypt. On this trip they had no time to allow bread to rise, so they ate only unleavened bread. That is why matzah (flat crackers) are eaten by Jews who observe Passover, and any bread products are supposed to be gotten out of the house before the holiday begins.

The Passover Story in a Nutshell

The Passover story in a nutshell. From the inception of the Israelites' slavery through the miraculous Exodus.

www.chabad.org

 

[missy]

Thank you for sharing those beautiful photos, missy, and also the history of how the macaroon became incorporated in Passover. I didn't know that.

For people who do not know about the Jewish feast of Passover, it celebrates the Jews' successful escape from slavery Egypt. On this trip they had no time to allow bread to rise, so they ate only unleavened bread. That is why matzah (flat crackers) are eaten by Jews who observe Passover, and any bread products are supposed to be gotten out of the house before the holiday begins.

Thanks Deb. Here is a poignant opinion piece perhaps you will enjoy.

This Passover, pass hand sanitizer so COVID-19 plague passes over

What’s Passover?

www.clevelandjewishnews.com

What’s Passover?

The question sounded so simple and innocent coming from my 6-year-old granddaughter, and yet the answer, in this time of a plague that has paralyzed the world, might scare her more than ever.

Especially when all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are praying that the Angel of Death pass over our homes and not strike the people we love with coronavirus.



She saw the box of matzah her Jewish Papa had on the kitchen counter and wondered why we called this cracker “bread.” I wondered if maybe we should buy it in bulk, since it probably lasts forever.

As I explained that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, her older sister and brother, 8 and 11, gathered around to hear the details and to fill in the parts they knew. Just tell the essence of the story, I reminded myself, don’t scare them any more than this virus already has.

I grew up Catholic, so my telling of the story isn’t as fluent as those who can quote Exodus and their trusty Haggadah from memory.

As I told it, it seemed new to me. People seeking freedom and facing resistance along the way. Moses trying to lead people who weren’t always cooperative. Their faith being challenged every step of the way.

The Israelites fled; we hunker down and isolate. They lived on manna that fell daily from heaven; we’re hoarding food from Costco. They clung to their family; we have to keep a safe distance.

Passover hasn’t been canceled. It has been challenged. It has been deepened.

I read a better way to explain it on Chabad.org in an article by Tzvi Freeman, who wrote, “Passover means to pass over every challenge.”

Who hasn’t been challenged by this global pandemic?

My favorite part of Passover is the singing of “Dayenu” that tells the story through the eyes of gratitude. “It would have been enough” is the response every step of the way. “If He had brought us out of Egypt and had not carried out judgments against them, Dayenu, it would have sufficed.”



It reminds me to scan my own life through eyes of gratitude, not fear. If God had just given me five sisters, it would have been enough. If God had just given me five brothers, it would have been enough. (You have to have a sense of humor when you come from a large family.)

When I scan the gifts of a lifetime, my parents, my siblings, my daughter, my husband, two stepsons, their spouses, three grandchildren, my in-laws, countless friends, my health, my career, my home, the blessings are endless.

So are yours.

The challenge is to see the blessings even when we can’t see them face to face, to stay connected to each other and to our faith even as we are apart, even as things seem to fall apart, even as we are challenged, even as we are shaken to the core of our being.

Our being. That’s where all this is taking us. Away from all our doing to our deepest, holy being.

Freeman wrote: “On the night when we were rescued from the bondage of Ancient Egypt, sit with your family, sit with your roommate, sit just you and the Creator of the Universe alone. Eat the matzahs and bitter herbs, drink the wine and tell the greatest story ever told.

“While the whole world is grounded on the tarmac, tell the story of an exodus from excruciating restriction to holy freedom. The story of our own people, of you and I, of some 4,000 years of eternity.

“As we all await our exodus back to freedom, tell the ancient story our ancestors told. Tell it to whoever is there in your house. Most of all, tell it to yourself.”

And tell yourself this: as hard as this all gets, we can do hard. This pandemic is hard, but we can do hard.

The Jews have been doing hard for thousands of years, in times so much harder than these, celebrating Passover during the Holocaust, in ghettos, in poverty, in concentration camps.

It will be sad to miss out on family and friends. But instead of calling it social distancing, it is our greatest act of solidarity. We are keeping each other alive by staying apart.

Go ahead and open the door for Elijah, but if he does walk in, pass him the hand sanitizer and keep him 6 feet away.

"Passover hasn’t been canceled. It has been challenged. It has been deepened.

The Jews have been doing hard for thousands of years, in times so much harder than these, celebrating Passover during the Holocaust, in ghettos, in poverty, in concentration camps.

It will be sad to miss out on family and friends. But instead of calling it social distancing, it is our greatest act of solidarity. We are keeping each other alive by staying apart.

Go ahead and open the door for Elijah, but if he does walk in, pass him the hand sanitizer and keep him 6 feet away.

"

 

[AGBF]

I have not celebrated Passover in years, since my daughter was young and my husband and I used to share the holiday with my cousin, his wife, and their children. I have wonderful memories of it, however. My cousin and his wife had a son who was a few years older than my daughter and he got great enjoyment out of the plagues and enacting them with great drama both at and under the seder table.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Ive been meaning to try msking macaroons for ages but Gary isn't keen on almonds or alot of coconut
i usually have plenty if coconut because i like it on my porrage and
Anzac biscuits need coconut but i'm down to too small an amount
but i definatly want to try the egg white recepie
I need to find my electric hand mixer first - we seem to have misplaced quite a lot if pots and pans in the move and we must have packed things into these pots and pans

any thoughts on what manna actually was ?

 

[Phoenix]

It is Passover and Holy Week. (OK, today is actually Good Friday, traditionally a day of fasting, but Easter is coming very soon. Macaroons can be and are eaten (depending on the preparation in the case of Orthodox Jews) on both Passover and Easter. I saw this article in "The New York Times" today and saved it.


Coconut Macaroons, Two Easy Ways
"Make a candylike version with all coconut and an egg white, or use a whole egg and almond flour for a more cakelike result.,"

Credit...Melissa Clark



"Coconut macaroons might just be the easiest and most forgiving of all cookies. You don’t need a mixer. You don’t need flour. The amounts are just suggestions. And you can flavor them any way you like. Plus, the fluffy little morsels are perfect for both Passover and Easter.
This year, I experimented with two different versions, and both were fantastic, albeit strikingly different. One was traditional, made up of egg white, sugar and shredded coconut. The other used a whole egg (I didn’t feel like separating it), and a combination of coconut and ground almonds.
The all-coconut and egg white cookies were slightly sweeter and more candylike, with a crunchy shell and soft interior, while the almond-coconut-whole-egg version was softer through and through, and more cakelike.

Here’s how to make them: In a bowl, whisk the egg (white or whole) until frothy. Add 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut to the egg white, or a half-cup each coconut and ground almonds to the whole egg. You can use almond flour, or you can grind the nuts yourself; if grinding yourself, you can make the whole thing in the food processor, so you don’t have to dirty a bowl. And if you have sweetened coconut, just use less sugar.

Mix in 1/4 cup sugar (2 tablespoons, if you used sweetened coconut), a pinch of salt and a flavoring. I used a dash of orange blossom water, but an extract — vanilla, almond, coconut, lemon, orange — would work. Some grated citrus zest is a good choice, too.
I let the mixtures sit for 30 minutes, so the coconut could absorb all the liquid. (Otherwise the egg sometimes pools at the bottom of the macaroons while they bake.) Then, I wet my hands to keep the mix from sticking and rolled them into balls. I placed some on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and some in mini-muffin tins. (You can grease the tins or line with paper holders.)

Then I baked them at 350 degrees for 13 minutes. My macaroons were small. If yours are large, it could take up to 20 minutes. Keep checking: They are done when the tops are firm and the edges golden.

Each batch yielded about 10 small macaroons, but you could double or triple the recipe, depending on your self-isolating situation. They are festive and cute, and you can embellish them by folding the likes of chocolate chips, pistachio nuts, candied ginger or chopped dried fruit into the batter. They don’t keep long, maybe a day or two before getting hard and crusty. But eating them quickly shouldn’t be a problem."

Thank you, I am saving this recipe - for the occasional indulgence.

I like simple, no-fuss recipes. I guess I am a lazy cook, lol.

 

[AGBF]

I was looking for a recipe I loved years ago. I didn't find it. It was in only one cookbook. So I looked up one that, like the one I loved, had whole wheat pastry flour.

This is the new one I found.

The Best Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies (Easy No-Chill Dough!)

These homemade Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies are easy to make, tender, and buttery. And you don't have to chill the dough!

www.realmomnutrition.com