Cherry Coconut Macaroons

These little coconut macaroons are light as a cloud and naturally gluten-free, built the meringue way rather than from sweetened condensed milk. Egg whites whip up with a pinch of cream of tartar, then a sweetener and fragrant almond extract fold in before a generous heap of grated coconut.

That whipped-egg-white base is what gives them their character: crisp and delicate on the outside, soft and chewy with coconut within. Because they’re sweetened with a sugar substitute, they’re a lighter, lower-sugar treat than most cookies on the holiday tray.

Best of all, they come together in one bowl with just a handful of ingredients, and bake up into tidy little mounds with golden-tipped edges.

As the name suggests, a glace cherry pressed onto each one before baking turns them into the classic cherry-coconut macaroons of Christmases past, festive, pretty, and bite-sized.

Pro Tips

• Whip the egg whites to genuinely stiff peaks before adding anything. That structure is what holds the macaroons together as they bake.
• Fold in the coconut gently. Stirring too hard knocks out the air and leaves you with flat, dense cookies.
• Make sure your bowl and beaters are spotlessly clean and grease-free, or the whites won’t whip up properly.
• Watch the bake; you want set mounds with lightly golden edges, not browned all over.

Variations

• Press a glace or maraschino cherry into the top of each macaroon before baking, the topping the name calls for.
• Dip the cooled bottoms in melted dark chocolate, or swap the almond extract for vanilla.