A little peanut butter in your favorite coconut cookie is a very good thing!
This post may contain affiliate links.
Peanut butter and coconut together make me think of old-fashioned candies. Like a Zagnut candy bar!
Have you ever had one of those? It’s like a Butterfinger but with a coconutty coating. So good. But no chocolate in that Zagnut.
While thinking about those two ingredients together, the idea of creating a coconut macaroon with some peanut just felt right.
And when I dipped those PB macaroons in chocolate they tasted right.
These macaroons baking up give a wonderful sweet and sublime aroma to the kitchen.
Egg whites whipped up and folded through the batter give the macaroons added structure and lift.
For the bottoms I tempered some bars of semisweet chocolate, and this was my very first time attempting tempering! I list my resource for the tempering steps below.
Tempering the chocolate means that it sets well and has a nice sheen to it. The chocolate is also stable once set, and does not stick the wax paper or melt as soon as you touch it.
The peanut butter flavor in these macaroons is subtle at first, but builds with each subsequent bite, staying in a nice balance with the sweet coconut filling and chocolate. And it is such a decadent little treat!
FAQs
Here are two great tutorials to learn how to easily temper chocolate by hand:
Tempering Method 1 by Ghirardelli
This microwave method from America’s Test Kitchen
A stand or hand mixer, a baking sheet, parchment paper, wax paper (or more parchment), a rubber spatula, cooling rack and a cookie scoop. For tempering the chocolate a double boiler or heat-proof bowl to set over a pan, a spoon and a thermometer.
No, if you want to skip this just melt the chocolate in a double boiler or heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. The dipped macaroons may take a little longer to set.
The recipe is below, and here are a few more sweeeeets to tempt you!
Peanut Butter Macaroons with Chocolate Bottoms
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- 6 cups shredded sweetened coconut
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter (about 2-1/2 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking bar or chunks (not chips)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment (or a clean medium-sized bowl if using a hand mixer.) Beat the egg whites for 4-5 minutes on medium-high speed until they reach the soft peak stage. If using a stand mixer, transfer the egg whites to another bowl so you can keep using the stand mixer bowl. Hold the egg whites aside.
- Mix together on medium speed the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, peanut butter, flour, vanilla and salt. Fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture using a rubber spatula – do this gently until the egg whites are incorporated.
- Use a 2 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to scoop the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly. Bake the macaroons for about 19 minutes, until they are very lightly browned along the bottom edge and in a few spots on the tops. Transfer the macaroons to a cooling rack. Cool the macaroons completely.
When the macaroons are cooled, melt and temper the chocolate:
- Roughly chop the semisweet chocolate and divide it into two groups.
- Bring water just to a simmer in the bottom pan of the double boiler. Place half of the chocolate into the top pan of the double boiler (or into a bowl set over the lower pan.) Have your thermometer ready and stir the chocolate constantly as it melts. When the temperature reaches 115 degrees remove the pan or bowl from the heat.
- Now you want to bring the temperature down to about 95 degrees: stir the chocolate checking the temperature periodically: it took my chocolate about 7 minutes to cool to 95 degrees.
- Return the pan or bowl to the top of the pan of simmering water, and add in the rest of the chopped chocolate. Stir it consistently to melt everything and have a pan of very smooth, thick chocolate.
- Line a baking sheet or work area with wax paper. Dip the cooled macaroons one at a time in the chocolate, just enough to coat the bottoms and edges. Set the dipped macaroons on the wax paper-lined baking sheet. Let the macaroons cool and set for about two hours.
- The macaroons can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Makes about 29 macaroons.
Leave a Reply