Category Archives: baking

Five Layer Port Berry Tart – Enjoying Summer Berries and Living Larger (if you’re not careful)

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A crunchy cookie crust coated with dark chocolate is the foundation for this delicious tart. Layer on sliced almonds and pastry cream. Then finish with port wine-marinated berries. Yum!

Summer has always meant berries to me. When I was young, we would pick buckets of blackberries in thickets behind our home. I have fond memories of hot, sun-drenched, juicy strawberries at a “you-pick” farm…one for the container, one for me. All throughout my summers…berries. I can never seem to get enough of them. Maybe it is because their season is so fleeting.

In their short growing season, wild berries grow abundantly in Alaska. In the past, we’ve picked salmonberries, raspberries, blueberries and currents here on the Kenai Peninsula. This summer, our departure will beat the arrival of these ripening berries. Sigh. Fortunately, the local Seward grocery store supplied me with strawberries and blueberries to meet my berry craving.

This galley-sized tart serves four and was prepared in a Denby pasta bowl. In a traditional kitchen, you might double this recipe and bake it in a fluted tart or a springform pan. A dash of almond or vanilla extract might also be a nice flavor in the pastry cream. These are not staples in Bandon’s galley. Any berries could be used in this recipe. I would imagine ripe peaches would also be delicious.

Five Layer Port Berry Tart

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter (separated into 2 portions of 2 tbsp each)
  • 12 rectangles of dark chocolate bar
  • 1/3 cup of sliced almonds

Pastry Cream

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup semolina flour
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup low fat milk

Berry Topping

  • 1 cup of berries, I used sliced strawberries and whole blueberries
  • 2 tsp of brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp port wine
  • a few sliced almonds to garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Thoroughly mix together all-purpose flour and 2 tbsp brown sugar.
  3. Cut in unsalted butter.
  4. Mix to form dough ball (add drips of cold water if more moisture is needed to form dough).
  5. Press dough evenly into greased bakeware.
  6. Use tines of fork to prick dough all over the bottom and up the sides of the dough.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes.
  8. Let crust cool on wire rack in bakeware.
  9. On low heat, in a medium saucepan, melt chocolate and 2 tbsp of unsalted butter. Stir constantly.
  10. When chocolate mixture is thoroughly melted and mixed, spread evenly onto cooled crust, ensuring bottom and sides of crust are coated.
  11. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of sliced almonds onto melted chocolate. Press almonds into melted chocolate. Let cool and harden.
  12. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and 1/4 cup brown sugar until fully incorporated.
  13. Add semolina to egg mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Set aside.
  14. Heat milk and cream in a medium saucepan on medium heat just until it boils.
  15. Whisk in heated milk mixture to egg mixture tablespoon by tablespoon, in order to avoid cooking eggs.
  16. Pour egg and milk mixture back into saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until it thickens (should coat a wooden spoon).
  17. Continue cooking and stirring for two additional minutes. Cool pastry cream completely. Place plastic wrap over pastry cream to avoid developing a skin.
  18. Take remaining 2 tsp of brown sugar and mix with 2 tbsp of port wine.
  19. Pour port wine mixture over berries and let marinate while pastry cream is cooling.
  20. When ready to assemble, strain berries out of port wine mixture.
  21. Assemble tart by spreading cooled pastry cream evenly over chocolate coated crust and then placing strained berries atop pastry cream. Sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top of the berry layer and enjoy immediately.

The crust and pastry cream can be made ahead of time and will keep well in the fridge. Then you can easily assemble this delightful dessert right before you serve it. We did share two of the four servings with our dock neighbors to avoid living too “large!”

Leftover S’mores Ingredients? Bake a S’mores Cheesecake!

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After grilling s’mores for ourselves and our dock neighbors, we were still left with half a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and a whole bar of dark chocolate. Such problems… Cheesecake was the answer to this problem!

Our galley kitchen is small. The counter space is measured in inches. Our pantry has just the basics. Our cookware and dishes are on the multifunctional and minimal side. We did outfit our little home with Denby dishes, which can be baked in. So, forget about the springform pan and the food processor in this preparation. What follows is how I made S’mores Cheesecake, galley style.

S’mores Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust-

  • a little more than 1 cup of ground graham crackers. I ground the graham crackers using our coffee grinder.
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
Cheesecake Filling
  • 8 oz. cream cheese, brought to room temperature
  • 2 eggs, also room temperature
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup of coarsely chopped dark chocolate bar

Topping

  • Marshmallows, quartered
  • 1/4 cup of coarsely chopped dark chocolate bar

Directions

  1. Mix graham cracker crumbs with 3 tbsp brown sugar and butter.
  2. Press into a well-buttered pasta bowl that can be baked (or springform pan if you are in a standard kitchen).
  3. In a medium-sized pot, beat eggs and remaining 4 tbsp. of brown sugar. I used brown sugar to add flavor in lieu of vanilla extract.
  4. Whisk in cream cheese until smooth. A mixer would have come in handy for this step. My arm was a little tired here.
  5. Mix in 1/4 cup of chopped dark chocolate. I did experiment with using a vegetable peeler to curl pieces of chocolate. Using a cutting board and a chopping knife was easier and turned out with equally good results.
  6. Pour cream cheese mixture into graham cracker crust and bake in a 320 degree F oven. My little oven may bake a little warmer than yours, so you may need to increase the temperature a bit.
  7. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the center is almost set.
  8. Evenly place marshmallows on top of cheesecake. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate. Bake for another 5 minutes, marshmallows should just be tanning.
  9. Remove from oven and let cool for about an hour. No matter how much Jack begs, tell him he can’t have any cheesecake until tomorrow.
  10. Refrigerate overnight. Fortunately, our camper is parked in the harbor parking lot and is equipped with a nice little fridge.

I was pleasantly surprised that we could pop the cheesecake out of the pasta bowl. I thought we were going to have to enjoy this dessert spoonful by spoonful. Who needs springform pans?!

Strawberry-Port Gallette with Sliced Almonds

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Delicious first baking experience in the galley of our boat, Bandon. Strawberries marinated in brown sugar and port wine stuffed into a simple crust filled our little home with delicious smells and satisfied my need to bake.

Our boat is equipped with a gimbaled stove, which pivots and swings to remain level in spite of waves and wind in the harbor. The stove houses a tiny oven, which is perfect for baking for two. I love to bake and have had an itch to make something with the  beautiful strawberries I kept seeing at the store. We hadn’t had strawberries since last summer! After thirty minutes of baking, the first experiment emerged from the oven a success. The only thing that would have improved this dessert was a couple of scoops of  vanilla ice cream. Next time…

Strawberry Port Gallette

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 cups sliced strawberries
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp port wine

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, stir together strawberries, brown sugar, and port. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, granulated sugar, and salt.
  3. Cut in butter to flour mixture. I mixed this by hand, literally, until the butter was well incorporated.
  4. Add a bit of water to form flour mixture into a dough ball (I used about 2 tbsp).
  5. Roll out dough to an 8″ circle. I didn’t have a rolling pin, so I pressed out the dough into 8″ circle onto a well-buttered cookie sheet.
  6. Place berries in a mound on the circle, leaving a 1-2″ border. I reserved some of the sugar-port juice to sauté the sliced almonds.
  7. Fold the 1-2″ border over fruit, leaving the strawberries exposed in the center.
  8. Bake at 375 degrees F until golden, about 30 minutes.
  9. While gallette is baking, sauté almonds in reserved sugar-port juice.
  10. When baking is complete, remove gallette from oven and sprinkle with sautéed almonds.

Scones and Lemon Curd – The Last Egg

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How to use  up the last of the pear butter, lemon curd, orange marmalade and the lone remaining egg in the fridge? Whip up a batch of scones, set out the spreads, and watch it all disappear!

These scones were amazingly quick and easy and had just the right texture and flavor. When I set out a large glass baking dish filled with them in the school office, they were gone almost before I turned around.

To shape them, I used a circular cookie cutter and then cut those circles in half. For larger scones, you could roll the dough into a circle and cut it into eight wedges.

Scones

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • a little less than 1 cup milk
  • cinnamon/sugar mixture to dust the tops (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. I used a stand mixer.
  3. Mix in butter.
  4. Put egg in a large measuring cup. Fill measuring cup to 1 cup line with milk. Mix well.
  5. Pour some of the egg mixture slowly into flour while mixing on low until mixture forms a dough ball. Set aside extra egg mixture.
  6. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
  7. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into the shape of your choice.
  8. Place scones on parchment-covered baking sheets. Brush with remaining egg mixture. Dust with cinnamon/sugar if desired.
  9. Bake 15 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Coconut Butter Cookies – One Egg to Go

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Chewy, sweet coconut butter cookies.

Some people count down by crossing off days. Up here in the village, the days are often counted in “sleeps.” This week, we’ve been counting in eggs. These cookies contain the second to last egg remaining in our refrigerator before we leave for the summer.

One egg, three days, two sleeps to go…

My mom cooked with fresh ingredients whenever she could, and so I have many memories of cracking coconuts and drinking the milk. Afterwards, we’d use fresh coconut shavings in various recipes.

Out here in bush Alaska, we’ve been using powdered coconut milk (obtained from our favorite Asian grocery store, New Sagaya, in Anchorage). Shredded coconut is also on our annual shopping list.

A few weeks ago, I made chocolate dipped macaroons. The coconut lovers around here gave them high marks. Others (those who couldn’t handle the coconut – you know who you are) diplomatically rated them “a-little-too-coconutty.” In an attempt to mellow out the coconut in this cookie, I mixed it into a tried and true butter cookie recipe. The coconut flavor and chewiness of these cookies goes perfectly with the butter-cookie sweetness. I was tempted to dip them in chocolate but resisted, thinking that might have made them too sweet. These cookies are already perfectly sweet!

Coconut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • dash salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cups sweetened coconut

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a separate mixing bowl, mix sugar and butter until smooth and pale colored.
  4. Mix egg into sugar mixture.
  5. Mix vanilla into sugar mixture.
  6. Blend in flour mixture to create a dough.
  7. Incorporate coconut into dough mixture.
  8. Drop dough by tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets leaving 2 inches between cookies.
  9. Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are toasted lightly on the top and golden brown on the bottom.
  10. Cool on wire racks.

Lemon Brioche Croissants

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Flaky and buttery croissants made from scratch using brioche dough. Stuff them with anything you like – I chose homemade lemon curd.

We leave for the summer in six days. After surveying the pantry for what will not survive three months, we determined the lemon juice, coconut and salsa are on the “must finish” list. Obviously, no recipe is going to take care of all three ingredients in one fell swoop — not one I’d want to eat, anyway! Salsa chicken and rice will be on this week’s menu. Coconut butter cookies for the staff potluck. And lemon curd stuffed croissants for breakfast.

From a culinary and baking standpoint, this summer should be interesting. We’ve cooked for weeks at a time in our camper. We’ve also cooked for weeks on a Coleman stove while tent and boat camping. This summer, it will be all galley cooking on our sailboat, Bandon. We’re both eager to outfit her galley with the least amount of quality tools that will help us with the most culinary tasks. We are also excited to fish the south central waters of Alaska and cook up the freshest and tastiest seafood for ourselves and our guests. Stay tuned to see what will be created from the galley of Bandon!

Lemon Brioche Croissants

makes 8 croissants

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/8 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tbsp instant yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup soft unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup lemon curd or other filling (see below for separate lemon curd recipe)

Directions

  1. Pour milk in saucepan and heat until lukewarm.
  2. Pour milk in mixing bowl. Add sugar. Mix until incorporated.
  3. Beat eggs. Pour eggs into milk mixture. Mix until incorporated.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of flour. Mix until incorporated.
  5. Add yeast and a second 1/2 cup of flour. Mix until incorporated. I switched to a dough hook on the mixer at this point.
  6. Add salt and last 1/2 cup of flour. Mix again until incorporated. Dough should be sticky.
  7. Mix butter into dough in increments of about 2 tbsp at a time.
  8. Once the butter is completed incorporated, cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
  9. After at least 4 hours, place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
  10. Roll the dough out to form a circle with about a 15-inch diameter.
  11. Cut dough into 8 pieces (pizza style) using a pizza wheel, forming 8 triangles.
  12. Place a heaping tbsp of lemon curd near the base of the triangle.
  13. Roll dough from base of triangle toward point.
  14. Curve into a crescent shape and pinch ends closed.
  15. Place croissants on parchment-lined baking sheet and cover sheet with plastic wrap. Let rest for 45 minutes.
  16. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F while dough is resting. Bake croissants for 15 – 20 minutes until lightly browned.
  17. Cool on a wire rack.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened unsalted butter
  • zest of one orange (about a tablespoon)

Directions

  1. Mix together lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and zest. Mix in butter 1/4 cup at a time.
  2. Place bowl on simmering pot of water (double boiler). Stirring constantly, cook until mixture reaches 160 degrees F (about 10 minutes).
  3. Store covered in refrigerator. I used a mason jar.

The above recipe used about half of the lemon curd. Enjoy the extra on scones, with yogurt, or to replace jam in any other recipe.

Croissant recipe adapted from http://www.cookingbread.com/classes/class_lemon_brioche_croissants.html

Lemon curd recipe adapted from http://www.recipegirl.com/2008/11/10/meyer-lemon-curd/

Way Better Than Pop Tarts

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Flaky stuffed pillows of pie crust sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. One bite of these, and you’ll never look a Pop-Tart straight in the face again.

Back in the day, my childhood home was known as the “health food” house. (It was also known as the “twigs and berries” house.) My mom primarily shopped at the health food coop. She didn’t allow processed sugar, and so when I saw my friends eat those tantalizingly sugar-laced Pop-Tarts (as advertised on TV), I could only imagine how wonderful they must taste. Mmm… Flaky golden crust, sweet and smooth icing, bursting with delicious chocolate or thick, sugary berry jam.

Well, one day, I worked up the courage to sneak one! Oh yes, my sister and I became masterful at sneaking sugar. At our secret hiding spot, my friend handed me one of these foil-wrapped treasures. I held it in my hands, heart beating with anticipation. Then I ripped into the wrapping, took a giant bite and…

Blech! The flavorless, cardboard-like confection I held in my hands bore no semblance to the treats that came popping out of toasters in TV land.  Later in life, I tried a health food version of a Pop-Tart and, again, ended up wishing I hadn’t.

Because of those experiences, I’m not a person who walks through life thinking about Pop-Tarts. So, coming up with the idea to make today’s creation caught me by surprise. A couple of months ago, I’d made some fantastic pear butter. It has the best texture, aroma, and flavor. It seemed a waste to leave it in the freezer over the summer. I thawed it and started my search for recipes. I thought the pear butter would be delicious layered between some kind of pastry. I envisioned a layer of mellow cheese (think mascarpone) topped with the pear butter.  I started my Internet search with the sole word “tart” just to see what would result. (Fortunately, I had the “safe” filter on my browser, otherwise who knows what images “tart” might have conjured forth.) As luck would have it, the third result was homemade pop tarts from Smitten Kitchen.

Way Better Than Pop-Tarts

Makes 9 Pastries

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 3/4 cup pear butter or jam
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
  • 1 tsp cinnamon mixed with 3 tsp granulated sugar for the topping
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Mix flour, sugar and salt. Slice butter into pats. Mix in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers. Do this until butter is pea-sized. It is ready when dough holds together when you squeeze it.
  3. Whisk together one egg and milk.
  4. Stir egg mixture into dough. Dough should form into a ball.
  5. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a rectangle (about 3 x 5 inches).
  6. Roll out one half of the dough on a lightly floured surface. Try to keep the shape rectangular. Roll out until dough is about 1/8 inch thick and is about 9″ x 12.” Cut the dough into nine 3″ x 4″ rectangles. Repeat with second half of dough.
  7. Mix together pear butter (or jam) and cornstarch mixture.
  8. Beat the second egg and brush it on one 3″ x 4″ piece.
  9. Place a heaping tablespoon of pear butter mixture in center of egg-covered dough. Spread out the pear mixture leaving a 1/2″ border.
  10. Place a second 3″ x 4″ dough rectangle on first dough rectangle. Press down on edges to seal the two pieces together.
  11. Use tines of a fork on the perimeter of rectangle to complete the seal and to add a decorative touch.
  12. Repeat with remaining tarts.
  13. Place tarts on parchment-lined baking sheets. Wash the tops with remaining egg mixture. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Prick each tart a few times to allow steam to escape.
  14. Place in oven for 20 minutes. The tarts should be a golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.
Adapted from http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/homemade-pop-tarts/


Cloudberry Cake: An Arctic Treat

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Cloudberry jam is baked right into the top of this moist vanilla cake. Try it with a hot cup of tea and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

 Continuing with the clean-out-the-pantry theme, I had a couple jars of cloudberry freezer jam left from our fall berry picking. These delicious orange berries of the far north are only available for a few short weeks at the end of the Alaska summer. Growing in patches on small mounds across the boggy tundra, Akpik (the Inupiaq word for the berries) are at first a brilliant red before turning orange during their peak ripeness. We picked two gallons and turned them into some of the best jam, sorbet and ice cream we’ve ever eaten. Prized wherever they grow, (they’re protected by law in some European locales) cloudberries have a distinctive sweet flavor with a hint of agreeable tartness. They have become our favorite berry.

Cloudberry Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp sour cream
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 cups cloudberry jam (or other jam)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Beat sugar and eggs until pale yellow (about 5 minutes). Beat in applesauce. Add vanilla and sour cream. Mix again.
  3. Sift flour and baking powder together. Stir into egg mixture.
  4. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
  5. Pour batter into springform pan.
  6. Dot the jam on top of the cake batter. Poke some of the jam down into the batter.  Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

Matcha Green Tea Cookies

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As our school year comes to a close, I searched our pantry for baking inspiration. It is a dual goal – bake something interesting and use something up that may not weather sitting for three months in a cabinet. Today’s ingredient? Matcha green tea. This is a powdered or finely milled form of shade-grown tea, which is used in Japanese tea ceremonies. It is very flavorful. Increasingly, matcha is finding its way as an ingredient into other food where it adds color and flavor.

This is probably not an everyday pantry item. Jack and I greatly enjoy tea. Before we moved up to Alaska, we purchased lots of tea from a favorite shop in California that was (sadly) closing. We had one opened bag of this delicious powder with exactly three teaspoons left… the perfect amount for a cookie recipe! If you would like to try this recipe, we suggest checking with a tea shop that carries Japanese teas.

Matcha Green Tea Cookies

Ingredients

  • 7 tbsp softened, unsalted butter
  • 6 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 egg yolk and 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 6 tbsp finely ground almonds
  • 3 tsp matcha powder
  • 2 tbsp granulated or turbinado sugar

Directions

  1. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and confectioner’s sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend thoroughly. Set aside.
  2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and matcha powder. Add in almonds. Mix thoroughly.
  3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until dough comes together into a ball.
  4. Shape dough into a log with about a 2-inch diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Sprinkle granulated or turbinado sugar onto a plate. Roll chilled log in sugar, pressing log into sugar to coat.
  8. Using a sharp knife, cut 1/2 slices. Place slices on baking sheet leaving room between cookies for slight spreading.
  9. Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned on the edges.
  10. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Recipe adapted from http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2009/10/matcha_shortbread_cookies.php

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

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In our world of BPA warnings for canned products and ingredients in processed foods that I can’t pronounce (and have no clue what they are), Jack and I have decided to limit our use of canned products and make as much as we can from scratch. My search for a coconut macaroon recipe resulted in recipe after recipe indicating the need for sweetened condensed milk. I hesitated. First of all, canned milk was bound to cost a fortune in our little Arctic store and second, it would be in a can.

Eventually I found a homemade substitute, which, in addition to being less expensive and more natural, had none of that can aftertaste common to many canned products. With the help of a stick blender whipping 1 cup of powdered milk, 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of boiling water, and 3 tablespoons of butter, I soon had 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk. This homemade version keeps well covered in the refrigerator.

Coconut macaroons were always a top fix for sweet cravings for me. When I was a starving student, I would wait until Passover passed so I could buy cans of Manischewitz macaroons that had been marked down. They were tasty, but I these bite-sized treats would taste better fresh. Baked at home, they are a bit crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. If you shape them like a pyramid, they are easy to dip into melted chocolate, for a nice presentation.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • dash of salt
  • 3 1/2 cups of unsweetened flaked coconut
  • 10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, egg white, vanilla and salt until combined.
  3. Stir in coconut until well blended.
  4. I used a cookie scoop to make uniform mounds on the baking sheets.
  5. Use wet hands to form mounds into pyramids. (Keep a bowl of cold water handy for this process.)
  6. Bake, one sheet at a time, until cookies are lightly browned, 15 – 20 minutes. (Don’t put away pan or throw out paper, yet.)
  7. Cool cookies on baking sheet until set, about 2 minutes. Then move to wire cooling racks.
  8. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler, or in a heat-proof bowl over a simmering pot of water. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat.
  9. Holding the macaroon by its pyramid top, dip the bottom of the macaroon into the melted chocolate. Place the dipped macaroon back on the parchment-covered baking sheet. Repeat process with all the macaroons.
  10. Refrigerate the macaroons until the chocolate sets, about 15 minutes.

Recipe adapted from http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/06/19/chocolate-dipped-coconut-macaroons/.