Cookie Hang

Oh me oh my – it’s the holidays. 96.5 has been blasting Christmas carols since the middle of November, store-front windows are sporting a menagerie of lights and pine needles, and people are gathering regularly for exchanges of gifts, goodies, and sweet treats.

Last night my book club traded in well-read pages for a cookie hang which, for those of you who do not craft on a regular basis or own an absurd amount of tupperware, is an event in where people gather with enough baked goods for everyone to share. There are oohs and ahhs, a lot of munching, and very few leftovers. Even if you are a dude with a lot of dude friends, you should host one of these…maybe under the guise of a beer hang.

With approximately thirty minutes to create my contribution and approximately zero skills when it comes to successfully baking, I decided to whip up a batch of

orange flavored coconut macaroons

dipped in tangerine chocolate

Sounds fancy, tastes good, easy to make. So for your next holiday gathering, if you want to impress your coworkers without breaking a sweat, try this simple recipe and go ahead, be greedy and save a few for yourself.

Ingredients:

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1 bag (8 ounces) of coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 orange
• 1/4 cup of tangerine or orange juice
• 1 cup of chocolate chips or melting chocolate

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Separate egg whites from egg yolks and use a hand held mixer or an immersion blender to whip the whites until they are…well, white and slightly stiff.

3. Add sugar in slowly (1/3 at a time) and continue to mix.

4. Add in flour and mix with a spoon.

5. Fold in coconut. Grate orange peel with your trusty microplane grater.  Dollop a spoonful of macaroons onto your non-stick, Silpat baking sheet.

6. Put in oven for 15 – 20 minutes.

7. While the cookies are baking, melt chocolate and orange juice in a homemade double broiler or heat safe bowl over a boiling pot of water. Keep the burner on low once chocolate is melted so that it stays smooth and does not burn.

8. When cookies have come out of the oven and cooled a bit, dip one side into the chocolate and set on wax paper or another surface that you don’t mind getting chocolatey (i.e. a plate, a cookie sheet, your face).

And if you just happen to miss your cookie hang, send these off to be devoured by coworkers. They are even more delicious the next day.