COCONUT & CRANBERRY MACAROONS

I love coconut and I love macaroons! My mum used to make them and coat them in chocolate. She added egg whites and sugar but this version is vegan and gluten free!

I came across this recipe by Jordan Bourke, in the Guardian magazine, but adapted it to make it gluten free!

The sweetness comes from maple syrup and the mixture is held together by one of my favourite ingredients, tahini!!

These macaroons are absolutely delicious, chewy, coconutty, sweet with the flavour of Halva, and a crisp topping!

Other stellar ingredients are ground flaxseeds, lemon zest and cranberries, all favourites of our gut microbes !
I like to eat to satisfy my taste buds and also feed my wee gut buddies, when they are fed and happy they are working on my behalf, so we all win!

So back to these delicious macaroons, these are a perfect wee treat for a summers day with a nice cup of tea! 

I was feeling a bit fed up this week, so headed out to our old Vw Camper Van Bruce with a plateful of these delicious macaroons, a pot of camomile tea served in my best tea set and I felt quite decadent. Sometimes you just need to use your best tea set and treat yourself to a few delicious cookies to make the world seem a brighter place!

A wee tip, if you have any of these left then put them back into the oven for 5 or 10 minutes or so to crisp them up again, they lose their lovely crispy topping by the next day!

So here is the recipe, 

Ingredients - makes around 16 

• 110g tahini
• 45g dried cranberries
• zest of a lemon and juice of half a lemon
• 100ml maple syrup
• 25g ground flaxseeds or ground almonds
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 220g desiccated coconut

Method

Heat the oven to 180C/160 Fan /Gas Mark 4 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until thoroughly mixed together. 
The mixture is a bit dry but just keep mixing it until it holds together. If its really dry then add a bit more tahini, lemon juice or maple syrup.
Take a spoonful of the mixture and squeeze it into a ball, lightly flatten it and put on the baking tray.
Bake for around 10 to 12 minutes until lightly golden.
​Leave to cool and firm up.
Enjoy!