Recipe | Chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons

Just three basic ingredients and a little chocolate make this yummy teatime treat.

Ingredients (makes 8 chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons)

I had one egg white to use up, so these are the quantities I used. If you want to make a larger batch of coconut macaroons, for each extra egg white increase the dry ingredients proportionally.

1 egg white
50 g (1.8 oz) caster sugar
80 g (2.8 oz) desiccated coconut
Approx 75 g chocolate (I used milk chocolate, but use dark if you prefer)

Method

Cover a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 160 degrees C fan / 360 degrees F / Gas Mark 4.

Separate the egg white, put it in a bowl and whisk until it’s white and frothy. Use electric hand beaters or a mixer if you’ve got them.

Combine the sugar and coconut, then add them to your egg white. Stir through until the mixture is an even, sticky “dough”. It will be very sticky!

If you’ve used one egg white, the mixture should make 8 macaroons. Divide your dough and roll into eight balls. Place these on your lined tray and flatten the balls slightly.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until the macaroons are a light brown. Leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before peeling the macaroons from the paper and leaving to cool on a wire rack.

Break your chocolate into chunks and melt. You can do this in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of steaming water or in the microwave, using short bursts of heat and stirring the melting chocolate between bursts.

Place a clean sheet of greaseproof baking paper on a board. Dip the bottom of each of your coconut macaroons into the chocolate until the base is completely coated, shake slightly so the excess drips off and place on the greaseproof paper.

You can also drizzle a little chocolate over the top of your coconut macaroons. Leave on the greaseproof paper until the chocolate has completely cooled and set.