Once upon a time, macaroons were my culinary nemesis. I fought to transform their fluffiness into something rich and toothsome, to contain their tendency to collapse, and to tame their general unwillingness to conform to my idea of what a macaroon should be.
As the battle raged on, I increased the amount of coconut to an absurd degree. I experimented with different egg-beating techniques. I beat my head against the wall and asked the culinary gods to tell me what I could do to fix a recipe (Nigella Lawson's coconut macaroons from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) that refused to work as written.
Finally, I changed the kind of coconut I used--and all at once, the whole thing came clear.
I grew up with sweetened shredded coconut. It was our go-to staple when a recipe called for the stuff, so I assumed it would do for macaroons, too. It does not. Sweetened coconut weighs the meringue down, exacerbating its tendency to collapse. It refuses to properly bond with the meringue, ensuring you'll have flat, fluffy macaroons studded with coconut instead of chewy domes in which the coconut provides structure and texture. My family insists fluffy macaroons are still delicious, but they aren't proper macaroons. They aren't what I set out to make.
If you value your macaroon-eating experience, use unsweetened stuff. You can probably find it in the bulk section at your supermarket, or perhaps in the baking goods aisle. Get regular/medium cut, not fine, and bask in the glory that is the perfect coconut macaroon.
I should note, too, that macaroons and macarons are different things. Macaroons obviously use coconut as a base, while macarons rely on almonds. I was shocked to discover how few Americans knew about them when I began to tweet about my epic culinary battle with the things.
Now I give you the results of that battle: coconut macaroons, slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson's recipe.
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