Growing up Jewish, one of the things I looked forward to each year was Passover. Not because of the never-ending Seder that lasted longer than it took for Moses and his gang to cross the Red Sea, but because of the dessert that came after the pomp and matzo. Mainly, I looked forward to the macaroons; those sweet and delicious temptations that went easily into your little kid mouth in one bite (and usually one chew). A child bent on spending a considerable amount of time in the bathroom could down an entire can of Manischewitz macaroons in one setting.

Little did I know, even while I was pushing a chocolate-chip macaroon down my gullet, that what I was eating wasn’t a true macaroon. It was only later, only a few months ago, in fact, that I discovered a true macaroon — crunchy and golden on the outside, chewy and full of coconut on the inside. From then on, I vowed to make my own macaroons for Passover and beyond.

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 3/4 cups (about 8 ounces) shredded sweetened coconut
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (about 7 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to the UHT (Universal Heating Temperature) of 350 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, coconut, and salt. Then, add the condensed milk and vanilla extract; mix well. The result will be a very sticky batter.

Roll the dough into 2-inch balls and drop them about the same amount of inches apart on the baking dish. Place in the oven for somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes, or until the tops of the macaroons are golden brown. Remove immediately from the pan to cool. Makes somewhere in the area of two to three dozen macaroons.

Tips:

• If you don’t like getting your hands messy, you can place a heaping tablespoon of dough onto the baking dish. However, it seems that rolling them in your hands turns out much better.
• Due to the condensed milk the dough is very sticky. To avoid more of the dough from sticking to your hands than the pan, moisten them with warm water every so often.
• If you child has allergies to soy and/or egg, this is a perfect cookie alternative for them. My 3-year-old son, who has those allergies, loves these cookies.