Can You Say Coconut?!

This is one of my new favorite recipes! I found it over at Healthy Food For Living. She has some wonderful ideas over there!  This isn't the most healthy one but...hey, we all need dessert

Lemon-Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cup full fat shredded unsweetened coconut (one 8 oz package)
• 1 cup reduced-fat shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• zest of 1 lemon (bright yellow part only; don’t use the white pith)
• 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
• 3/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Directions:

My Coconut Butter

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, process 2 2/3 cups full fat shredded coconut for about 5-8 minutes, until a thick, smooth coconut butter forms, scraping down the sides as needed (this will yield about 1 cup of coconut butter)~~~For this step I could only find flaked coconut. So I had to add about 2 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter, while pulsing, to get my coconut to cream.
3. Combine the coconut butter and all of the remaining ingredients (reduced-fat coconut through salt) in a bowl. Stir until well-combined.
4. Using a mini ice cream scoop (I used my hands, naturally!) scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet (no need to leave much room in between as they do not spread out). Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until the bottoms of the macaroons are lightly browned. The macaroons will be very soft at this point. ~~~~~My oven had them done in about 15.
5. Allow the macaroons to sit at room temperature on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until they firm up and cool down.

At our house, dessert isn't really dessert unless it comes with chocolate (Seriously, You put out a peach cobbler and they will laugh in your face!)....So,

I melted about 1/2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips and drizzled over the top. Now we've got DESSERT!

Thanks Again, Lauren for the great recipe!! Hope you all give this one a try and head on over to Healthy Food For Living and let Lauren know how much you enjoyed it!

Homeade Samoa Cookies

We eat mostly healthy foods at our house. My husband, though, is somewhat opposed and tends to bring home lots of goodies. So, when the girl scouts came calling, he came home with five boxes of sugary, caramelly, coconut goodness. Namely: Samoa's.
I had to find a way to make these at home. I found a recipe that sounded amazing at A bicycle Built For 2.
Here are the ingredients (for the full directions click on the link above).I only changed a few things about their recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 3 cups shredded coconut
• 12 ounces of caramels
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 8 ounces chocolate chips

To curb my guilty feeling (like these changes make it healthy!) I used: unsalted butter, Splenda in place of the sugar, Unbleached flour, and Dark Chocolate chips. 

My sister-in-law and I came up with a trick using "Holy Water" as she called it. Dipping our fingers into a dish with water to help form the caramel to the shape of the cookie. And we did do the chocolate coating before putting the caramel mixture on top. It just seemed logical. One more thing: the cooling process is very important! You have to wait. Even though you will be dying to eat them by the time they are assembled.

If I were you, I would stash two or three somewhere where you can be pleasantly surprised in a couple of days! These things will go fast!  Happy Eating!