Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention. Other times, food that’s going to spoil makes this mother invent.

I went to get A Key lime. But I was at a huge, box store so I could only buy TEN Key limes. Needless to say, I had left over limes. I also had left over egg whites. So, I decided to take the two orphans under my baker’s wing before they gave us all salmonella, and concocted:

 

COCONUT LIME MACAROON with a WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT CRUST & PINK HIMALAYAN SALT GARNISH

….yee-haw!

The beauty of this recipe: I think it would pair nicely with Tequila AND it will possibly cure you of scurvy.

The ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon Key Lime zest
• 3 1/2 to 4 Tablespoons Key Lime juice (from about 4 limes)
• 2 Tablespoons corn syrup
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 4 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 1/3 cups shredded coconut*
• 2/3 cup almond flour (not pictured)**
• 4 ounce white chocolate baking bar
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts

The instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375º. Start by beating the lime juice, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, egg whites, vanilla and coconut extracts, and salt together until you have a nice little froth:

Add your coconut, lime zest, and flour, and mix.

Refrigerate the dough for 15-20 minutes before shaping.

While you’re waiting, pound the nuts. Macadamia nuts will turn to butter if you grind or food process, so stick to chopping (for larger chunks) or smashing (for a fine grain).

To smash the nuts, put the macadamias in a plastic bag like this,

get yourself a wooden spoon and smack the bag with the back of the spoon until the macadamias look like this:

Good. Now set the nuts aside and get your cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, take the cool dough out, and shape it into haystacks.

Put the macaroons in the oven, close the door,  and reduce the heat to 350º. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes, switching the trays around half way through baking.

As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle a pinch of Pink Himalayan salt on the top:

After the cookies have cooled, melt your white chocolate in short bursts of microwave heat (15-20 seconds at a time),

stirring in between each nuke until it’s smooth:

set up a frosting station:

spread the white chocolate on the base of the cookie:

and press it into the crushed macadamias:

And rest the finished cookie on wax paper until the chocolate has set:

You are finished. Get the tequila…

¡Salud!

Que vivas durante todos los días de tu vida.

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*If I’d had it, I’d have used 3 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut and 2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut for crunchier texture.

**coconut flour would be an alternative, if desired. The flour makes this cookie a little chewier. If you like a drier, crisper macaroon, use more unsweetened desiccated coconut in lieu of the flour.

(Translation? It means “Cheers! May you continue to live all the days of your life.”)