Coconut macaroons retain their soft and chewy interior after being baked to the perfect shade of golden brown. Get ready for these coconut cookies to fly off the table!
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine egg whites and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed for approximately 2 minutes until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
Meanwhile, combine coconut, vanilla extract, and sweetened condensed milk in a large mixing bowl.
Use a spatula to fold the whipped egg whites into the coconut mixture. Fold gently to keep as much of the air in the egg whites as possible.
Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, drop cookies onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.
Allow the cookies to set for a couple minutes after removing from the oven, and then transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
Notes
Make sure you use sweetened shredded coconut for this recipe.
Bring your egg whites to room temperature before beginning. Room temperature egg whites will incorporate more air during whisking than cold egg whites.
We use ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk in this recipe (a standard 14 oz. can has a little more than 1 cup, so you will have leftover milk. Using more than ¾ cup makes the coconut really sticky and more difficult to incorporate into the egg whites.)
If desired, you can add a touch of extra nutty flavor by incorporating 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of almond or coconut extract in addition to the vanilla.