When Life Gives You Coconuts…Make Macaroons
My nine-year-old daughter helped me whip up this recipe, and honestly? She stayed for the prep, but decided to run off to play with her friends once they were in the oven.
The whole thing took about 10 minutes of prep and 20–25 minutes in the oven at 325 degrees, and the result?
Perfectly golden, chewy, coconutty macaroons that somehow tasted indulgent without the guilt.
Here's the best part: I didn't use a single grain of sugar.
Instead, I swapped out the usual ½ cup of white sugar for just 2 tablespoons of monk fruit sweetener—and it worked like magic.
These cookies came out indulgently sweet, not sticky-sweet, and with that toasty coconut flavor that makes you immediately reach for a second one (or a third one).
My secret ingredient? A (heaping, because I love extra vanilla) teaspoon of my Aunt Robyn's pure, small-batch Madagascar vanilla extract.
She handcrafts her vanilla in small batches, brewed with care and aged to perfection.
What I used in this recipe came from a batch of Madagascar vanilla beans that's been aging for over a year(but her recent batches have been 22 months or more)—rich, deep, and utterly different from the thin, sharp stuff on grocery shelves.
Don't get me wrong, it smells good, but it doesn't come anywhere close to this stuff.
Robyn works with vanilla beans sourced from Madagascar, Uganda, and the Congo, each bringing its own character and depth to the flavor.
She makes both single-fold and double-fold Madagascar vanilla, each with its own intensity, and she doesn't produce it on a commercial scale.
When she runs out, she's out until the following Christmas baking season. It's truly artisanal—made with patience, precision, and pride.
She also creates a vanilla paste, which can be used interchangeably with her extract.
It adds those beautiful dark vanilla bean specks and an even deeper, rounder flavor.
It's the kind of ingredient that makes any dessert look—and taste—a little more special. (I'll be reviewing this one next!)
Because of state laws, she can only sell within Kansas. Still, if you're lucky enough to live there (or have family or friends who do), you could snag a bottle before the season sells out.
Robyn also crafts her own spice blends (which I'll be reviewing soon—stay tuned), but for now, her vanilla absolutely steals the show.
When I opened the bag of monk fruit sweetener, it had this cozy, buttery-sweet smell, like that moment when you're creaming butter and sugar together for cookies. It gave off home-baking nostalgia in the best possible way.
If you want to give these macaroons a try (and trust me, you do), I've made it super easy:
You can download the full recipe and instructions in a printable PDF right below.
Seriously—the best coconut macaroons ever.
Soft on the inside, golden on the outside, and completely guilt-free.
IMBHO MORE PLEASE!
