Cooking with Liqueurs: Coconut Macaroons

by Deidre Woollard, Posted Dec 21st 2005 @ 7:34PM

I make chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons each year for the holidays but in honor of today's event I decided to perform a few boozy experiments. I am a firm believer that anything can be made better with a little booze. I think every cook who has experimented with cooking with liquor probably has a few bottles of half-finished liqueurs around the house. My recipe uses the same proportions as this one only I use almond instead of vanilla extract. In order to get the maximum flavor for my experiments, I upped the flour a bit so that I could include more liqueur. The results were mixed.

Cointreau is a natural fit for these. The macaroons maintained their proper consistency but now had a slightly orange flavor that contrasted nicely with the semisweet chocolate I dipped them in. The sweeter liqueurs were not as successful. The Kahlua added a nice mocha flavor but the macaroons turned a not-so-appealing brown and spread out more while being cooked. The Godiva liqueur didn't work well at all, creating mushy overly sweet macaroons. Brandy also wasn't too interesting, it didn't shift the flavor in any positive way. I can imagine that peppermint schnapps could work, and Sambuca might be interesting to try too.

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Filed Under: Spirited Cooking Day, Ingredients, Methods
Tags: baking, chocolate, coconut macaroons, dessert, holiday cooking, HolidayCooking, liqueurs, recipes