Baking With Angela.

Hi everyone! I'm still on vacation, so enjoy today's guest poster!

Chocolate Macaroons

Hi! I’m Angela, and I reside over at Craving Cupcakes. Every Thursday, I do a feature called “Baking With Angela” Yeah, you guessed it, I love to bake. Luckily, Hayley was kind enough to let me do my guest post on a Thursday, so I can keep up with my feature.

When I first started dating my boyfriend (2 years ago), we were doing the whole get to know you thing when I asked him what his favorite cookie was. He told me Macaroons, and being the naive non-baker that I was at the time, I figured it was the ones that I always saw at Wal-Mart. I can’t remember their name now, but they came in a little box and were well…not that good. I had never heard of macaroons before, so I just picked up a box of these the next time I was at Wal-Mart and gave them to Stephen. He ate them, but not before trying to describe what they actually were. The next time I was at Safeway, I saw a package of Homestyle Two-Bite Macaroons. Figuring that I had it right this time, I picked those up and proudly delivered them to Stephen. I was wrong yet again, so he told me to email his Mom to get the recipe. Apparently she made the best Chocolate Macaroons he’s ever had. I got the recipe and attempted to make them. They’re ridiculously easy to make, but I was still nervous. I didn’t really bake, and I was trying to impress my new boyfriend. They were a hit, and I think it’s safe to say that these macaroons are what kept Stephen around. Or maybe he actually likes me. Who knows.

Can I let you in on a little secret? You don’t actually bake these. So even if you don’t like baking, give these a try. You’ll be surprised at how easy these are.

Chocolate Macaroons

2 cups Sugar

1/2 cup Milk

1 cup Margarine

6 tsp Cocoa powder

3 cups Quick Oats

1 cup Shredded coconut

1 tsp Vanilla

1. Combine the sugar, milk, margarine and cocoa powder in a pot. Bring to a low boil, and then continue boiling for only 4 minutes.

2. In a separate bowl, combine quick oats, coconut and vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture.

3. Drop by the spoonful onto waxed paper to cool and set (they don’t fall apart when picked up). Once set, store them in the fridge in a sealed container, so they don’t dry out. 

For whatever reason, I seem to always bake these late at night. After putting them on the waxed paper and letting them cool off, I’ll lay saran wrap over top and let them sit out overnight. These taste great straight out of the freezer, so I’ll often double the recipe and stick half in there. Around Christmas, I’ll frequently triple the recipe; my family likes to inhale them!