CUBAN: Coquitos (Cuban Macaroons)
Source of Recipe
John Connell Maribona, chef/owner, Canita, Pambiche
Recipe Introduction
Like haystacks floating on a raft of chocolate, these Cuban macaroons, or coquitos, are a far cry from what you'd get at the grocery store. The golden cookies are crunchy on the outside with a soft interior. The crunch "is what people tend to like about them," says John Connell Maribona, a Portland native of Cuban heritage. He serves them at his two Cuban restaurants, Pambiche and Canita, both in Portland.
These are great for Christmas because they keep well. To make them ahead, bake the macaroons and freeze them, then thaw and dip into chocolate up to a few days before serving.
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List of Ingredients
1 pound macaroon coconut or unsweetened coconut (see note)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/2 pound milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate (see note) Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss together macaroon coconut, flour and sugar. Beat the eggs and egg yolks together and mix them with the dry ingredients. Knead thoroughly to assure dough uniformity. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Scoop batter with a spoon and shape each cookie into the form of a bell about 11/2 inches tall. Crimp with straight fingers, as if you're grabbing the bell from the top and squeezing the sides together to leave ridges. Reshape as needed; dough will be somewhat crumbly. Place on cookie sheets and bake for approximately 10 minutes, until light golden. Allow to cool on baking racks. (Cookies can be prepared to this point ahead of time and frozen.) They will hold at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave oven, stirring often to prevent scorching.
Line clean cookie sheets with parchment paper or wax paper. Holding the pointed top of each macaroon, dip just the base into melted chocolate, gently shaking off excess and scraping the bottom on the edge of the chocolate bowl. (The chocolate is more of a decoration than anything else.) Place on cookie sheets. Chill until the chocolate has set. Serve at room temperature.
Note: Macaroon coconut, a dry, fine-textured unsweetened coconut, is available at cake decorating stores. Unsweetened coconut is available in the bulk food/natural foods sections of some grocery stores and food co-ops. Do not substitute sweetened shredded baking coconut. Note: If using chocolate chips, add 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening when melting, for smoother consistency.
TIP: Use a cookie scoop to make a compact, uniform ball and place it directly on the cookie sheet. Then, wet your fingers with water and form dough as directed above. You will need to re-wet your hands every second or third cookie to prevent dough from sticking
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