Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons #CreativeCookieExchange

Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons are sweet and chewy and just the slightest bit salty, with loads of flakey coconut, chopped almonds and dark chocolate. You will not be able to resist them! P.S. They are naturally gluten free.

Probably my second favorite candy bar in the whole wide world, right behind the Butterfinger, is an Almond Joy. Unlike its poor relative, the Mounds bar, an Almond Joy has almonds perched atop the sweet coconut before it is coated in chocolate.

Why anyone would want a Mounds when they could have an Almond Joy is beyond me but the Mounds does have one thing going for it. Dark Chocolate. Almond Joy bars are covered with milk chocolate. So, taking the best of both, I’ve made these Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons with dark chocolate and almonds.

Ingredients – to make 3 dozen
2/3 cup or 110g almonds, plus 36 extra (about 45g) for garnish, if desired
Pinch of salt
1 14 oz or 396g bag sweetened flaked coconut
10 oz or 283g bag dark chocolate morsels (or sub chocolate chips)
1 (14 oz or 397g) can sweetened condensed milk

Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C and prepare your cookie sheets by lining them with baking parchment.

Toast your almonds in a dry skillet over a medium heat, stirring or tossing regularly to make sure they don’t scorch. They should start to smell nutty as they toast and you will see the natural oils come to the surface making the almonds slightly shiny. Lightly sprinkle them with the pinch of salt, stir, then pour them out onto a large cutting board and leave to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, toss together your coconut and dark chocolate morsels.

Set aside 36 almonds to use as garnish, if using, and then chop the rest roughly with a sharp knife.

Add the chopped nuts to the coconut and chocolate and mix. Pour in the condensed milk and mix till fully combined.

Use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop to create 36 almond coconut macaroons, placing 12 at a time of your prepared cookie sheet or sheets. Press one reserved almond in the top of each macaroon.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the coconut starts to brown. (I like mine well toasted so I left these in for 17 minutes.)

Cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then remove the macaroons to a wire rack to cool completely.

After they have cooled, keep the macaroons in an airtight container. These freeze particularly well, also in an airtight container.

True confessions: I have eaten a number of them straight from the freezer. Don’t judge me.

Enjoy!

This month my Creative Cookie Exchange group is sharing our favorite gluten free cookies and these Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons fit the bill. They just happen to be naturally gluten free so they are perfect to feed your whole crowd. (Well, the ones without the nut allergies. Entertaining is a challenge these days, isn’t it?)

Check out the link list below:

• Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Flourless Chocolate Cookies from Flours & Frostings
• Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cream and Butter Blog
• Fudgy Cookie Bites from What Smells so Good?
• Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies from The Spiced Life
• Hazelnut Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles from 2 Cookin’ Mamas

Creative Cookie Exchange is hosted by Laura of The Spiced Life. We get together once a month to bake cookies with a common theme or ingredient so Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts at The Spiced Life. We post the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

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