Coconut macaroons are a seriously underrated cookie. I can understand that because when done wrong, they’re dry, falling apart, and flavorless. Honestly who wants to waste their time? (And… calories. Ha!) However, when done right, coconut macaroons are compact with chewy, moist centers. They’re like a coconut cookie cloud and, depending on the recipe, there’s no cookie dough chilling required. For those reasons and more, coconut macaroons will always be a staple in my holiday baking. Today I’m showing you how to amp up their flavor with almond butter.
Tell Me About these Almond Butter Coconut Macaroons
Texture: Forget everything you’ve experienced with dry coconut macaroon cookies. If you use the right almond butter and avoid over-baking, they’re soft and moist in the centers with an unbelievably chewy texture. (And they stay that way for days!) An optional sprinkle of flaky sea salt adds a little crunch. Flavor: If you like coconut and the roasty toasty flavor of almond butter, you’ll enjoy these cookies. Because that’s all you taste! We obviously don’t want to miss the opportunity for chocolate, so give each cooled cookie a generous drizzle. Ease: A food processor or blender is a key tool for this recipe. Not only does it chop up and blend the coconut, almond flour, and almond butter, it makes the blending process much quicker and easier. If you don’t have one, see my recipe note. I also appreciate that there’s no cookie dough chilling required. This recipe also joins 30+ others in my collection of Quick Dessert Recipes—ready in 1 hour or less! Allergens: This is a gluten free recipe. I’m not a gluten free baker, but I have a pretty substantial naturally gluten free recipes section published on this website and a roundup of all my favorite gluten free dessert recipes (this gluten free apple crisp is a reader favorite!). Assuming that your chocolate is dairy free, this is a naturally dairy free cookie recipe. Most pure dark and semi-sweet chocolate is, but check your labels. Or skip the chocolate.
Overview: How to Make Almond Butter Coconut Macaroons
This is a pretty straightforward and easy recipe, so I’ll keep things short.
Step-By-Step Photos
Left photo below: coconut, almond flour, and almond butter pulsed together. Right photo below: beaten egg whites, sugar, and vanilla extract. Left photo below: expect a sticky cookie dough. Right photo below: 1.5 Tbsp of dough per cookie. Make sure you line your baking sheets.
What Chocolate Do I Use?
For coating or drizzling cookies and candy with chocolate, I always use pure baking chocolate. I recommend Bakers or Ghirardelli brands, both sold in 4 ounce baking bars in the baking aisle. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers and are difficult to melt down, though I usually have luck with Ghirardelli chocolate chips. If using chocolate chips, 1/2 cup (90g) is plenty. Melt them with 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil to help thin it out. You can also dunk the bottoms of the cookies in the melted chocolate like I do with my regular coconut macaroons. Use a spoon to drizzle all over the cooled cookies. You could also use a squeeze bottle, which is the handy tool I use for decorating Christmas sugar cookies with easy cookie icing!
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See all of my no chill cookie recipes.
