Passover Baking

I am suffering from my first-ever (and, here's hoping, my last) bout of sciatica, and now I know why people describe it as the most painful thing ever. 'Cause it is.

But today I will be making six batches of matzoh meal rolls, as usual. In truth, standing up is preferable to sitting, so I might as well be doing something. 

And luckily Julie is becoming a master baker, so she did the rest of the baking yesterday—I just supervised and did a little bowl scraping. First she made a batch of these luscious chocolate cookies. Then she made coconut macaroons, which I'd never even made before. (I'd never even bought sweetened condensed milk before!) They were easy and came out great—Andy quality-tested one and said it was about as good a macaroon as he's ever had. They stayed in the oven a wee bit too long, so they're quite brown on the outside, but the inside is still tender and delish. 

Coconut Macaroons

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
pinch of kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt in an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter by the spoonful (not quite a tablespoon each—we made 23) onto the baking sheets. Use damp hands to make them nice and round, because they won't rise or spread. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. (At 300° convection, ours were plenty brown at 22 minutes.) Cool and serve.

Comments

[Elena]

Happy Passover! Hope you feel better soon!