Pineapple-Coconut Macaroons

It's raining and it's really pouring in Toronto, and I only have about four more days off before I dress myself in some scrubs and get to work. The idea to make macaroons half came from my friend and I joking about these expensive vegan macaroons we saw someone bring to a bar and eat, and half came from David Lebovitz. Since his brownies were really the "absolute", I had high expectations for these pineapple macaroons (to be fair, he never made such a claim on these). They were just okay to good to satisfy a sweet tooth, not as magical and comforting as his brownies.

Pineapple-Coconut Macaroons (from David Lebovitz)
About 35 cookies


David Lebovitz's note: I prefer to use unsweetened pineapple packed in its own juice, but if you can only find pineapple packed in light syrup, reduce the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup (150 g) for caramelizing the pineapple. If you want to use fresh pineapple, you’ll need 1 1/4 cups of caramelized crushed pineapple paste.
My note: I used sweetened pineapple and think I should have used less sugar so that it was stickier and easier to mold.


One 20 ounce (about 600 g) can crushed unsweetened pineapple
1 cup (200 g) sugar
pinch of salt
3 1/2 cups (245 g) dried unsweetened shredded coconut
3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


1. Put the pineapple in a wide skillet (preferable nonstick) with the sugar and a pinch of salt.
2. Cook the pineapple until the liquid is evaporated, then continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the pineapple gets thick and sticky, and just begins to brown. Remove from heat and scrape the caramelized pineapple into a large bowl. Then mix in the coconut into the pineapple, then the egg whites and vanilla.
(The mixture may be rather difficult to mix with a spatula. You can mix it with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or use your clean hands.)
3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Use your hands to gather a bit of the batter, about the size of an unshelled walnut, and form it into a round or a pyramid-like shape, onto the prepared baking sheet. Continue forming all the cookies then bake them for about 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking. The cookies are done when they are nicely browned up the sides (I failed to make a pyramid-like shape, so settled for a blob/dome shape)

Storage: These cookies are best served the day they’re made, since over time, they’ll lose their slightly crunchy crusts. You can store the batter up to five days in the refrigerator and bake them off as desired.