Foreign Food: Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate and Lime

I've decided to start a new column: Foreign Food. For this column, I will be cooking a type of food that is new to me or incorporating an ingredient or technique I have never used before. Join me on my journey to gastronomic enlightenment!

For my first foreign food: the coconut macaroon. Crisp on the outside, soft and tender on the inside. The perfect little cookie. I've added lime to the batter and drizzled the top with chocolate for good measure. Unlike your typical cookie, the macaroon has no baking soda or baking powder. Instead, this cookie is leavened by egg whites.

This treat is pretty easy to make- place all of your ingredients in the pan, turn on the heat and start stirring. All while singing "you put the lime in the coconut, drink them both up...". When the mixture is thickened, it gets spooned on to a cookie sheet and goes straight into the oven.

 After about 15 minutes, the macaroons should look golden, brown, and delicious!

While the cookies are cooling, you can melt some milk chocolate and toast some almonds to sprinkle on top.

The sweetness of the lime and the coconut are balanced perfectly by the richness of the chocolate and almonds. And there's fruit in it, so you don't have to feel guilty, right? For being such a delicate treat these macaroons are so easy to make!

Macaroons are a pretty flexible cookie. Don't like lime? Try orange instead. Maybe throw some almond extract in to the cookie base. And don't forget all of the drizzles and toppings you could try! Various nuts, chocolates and glazes... the possibilities are endless.

Do you know of a food you think I need to try? Leave a comment!

Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate and Lime
4 egg whites
3 c sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c flour
1 tsp lime zest
2 tsp lime juice
1 c milk chocolate chips
1/2 c almonds, chopped

1. Place egg whites, coconut, sugar, vanilla, flour and zest in heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
2. Place pan over low heat and cook 6-8 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when thickened.
3. Stir in lime juice.
4. Place spoonfuls of mixture onto parchment-lined baking sheets and bake @ 350 for 12-15 min, or until golden brown. Let cookies cool on baking sheet.
5. Melt chocolate in microwave according to package or in double boiler.
6. Chop almonds and place in dry saute pan. Toss almonds in pan over medium-high heat until fragrant.
7. Drizzle chocolate over macaroons and top with almonds.