Chocolate Chunk Macaroons

My husband is a macaroon lover and always wants to buy the ones in the store because he states that I don't make them enough. Little does he know that my original macaroon recipe takes so freaking long, thus the reason that I only make them around the holidays. Yesterday I found a recipe in Portuguese cooking magazine and in reading the recipe I noticed that it was less steps and a lot less time in the kitchen,so I decided that I would try out the recipe and I am glad I did.

The Macaroons came out amazing and I can't wait to make them again. This recipe is great when you are craving some sweet coconut and do not have a lot of time to bake.

FYI Unsweetened shredded coconut is available in health food stores, like wholefoods and trader joes. You can use sweetened shredded coconut just reduce the sugar in the recipe from 3/4 cup to one full tablespoon.

Recipe was taken from Martha Stewart's cookbook

Recipe yields about one and a half dozen Macaroons

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
3/4 cup of sugar (I use a little less than that)
2 1/2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate.
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (use the good stuff, it makes a difference)
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, salt and chocolate. Using your hands mix well until everything is combined together.

Take 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture to form loose haystacks. Place on prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart from each other.

Bake until golden brown about 15-20 minutes make sure to rotate the sheet halfway through the baking process

Let cool on wire rack.

Cookies can be store in an airtight container at room temp. for 3 days. They also freeze well.