Savor the mouth watering classic of a chewy, chocolate-coconut macaroon, but with a sparkling new twist of fresh berries. Here's a recipe for macaroons with delicious raspberries, but feel free to use your choice of seasonal fruit: blueberries...yum! blackberries..yum! :-)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet.
In a large bowl, combine egg whites, coconut, sugar and sea salt. Blend on medium till reaches a creamy texture (about 2 minutes). Blend vanilla and lavender buds.
Why lavender buds? This optional touch adds a subtle sweet and bitter component to the recipe.
Scoop a good-sized dollop of the coconut mixture onto your cookie sheet (about 1/4 cup) and make into a nice mound, then press a divot in the center (will give extra crispy edges to the coconut, and make a perfect spot to add the fruit later)
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, until coconut edges are browned. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
While macaroons are cooling, use a double-boiler to melt chocolate. Then dip each macaroon into the chocolate and add several fresh berries. Transfer to parchment paper for additional cooling
Allow to cool for 10 minutes (a good time to pour a glass of wine) - then enjoy!
The macaroons will store well in a sealed container for a day or two.