Light Coconut Macaroons

📝 Ingredients

• 3 egg whites (about 35 g each)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 60 g caster sugar
• 100 g fromage frais
• 1 tbsp cornflour (about 8 g)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ lemon (for the zest)
• 150 g desiccated coconut

🍴 Utensils

• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Fine grater
• Baking tray
• Parchment paper

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Separate the whites from the yolks by passing the yolk from one half-shell to the other over a bowl: not a trace of yolk should fall into the whites. Keep the yolks in the fridge for another recipe.
2. Whisk the whites with the pinch of salt for 1 min, just until frothy and full of tiny bubbles. No need to beat them to stiff peaks: here they act as a binder, not to make the macaroons rise.
3. Add the sugar, fromage frais, cornflour, vanilla and grated zest of the half lemon (only the yellow part, the white pith is bitter). Whisk for 30 seconds, until the mixture is smooth with no lumps of cornflour.
4. Fold in the desiccated coconut with a spatula and mix well so it's completely moistened. Leave to rest for 10 min: the coconut absorbs the moisture and the mixture becomes easier to shape. It should hold together when squeezed in your hand.
5. With slightly damp hands, take portions of about 25 g, or a heaped tablespoon, and shape them into small pointed domes. Place them on the tray 2 cm apart: you should get 16 to 18, or 3 per serving.
6. Bake for 15 min in the middle of the oven, until the tips and base are nicely golden while the rest stays paler. Keep an eye on them for the last 3 minutes: coconut goes from golden to burnt very quickly.
7. Leave the macaroons to cool on the tray for 10 min before lifting them off: they're fragile straight out of the oven and firm up as they cool. Then store them for up to 4 days in an airtight container, away from moisture.