coconut and lemon macaroons

I have spent most of my adult life trying not to be as scatterbrained as I am by nature.  

I was always the person at school who would forget that they had to bring their swimming costume in or the ingredients for a cooking class or an object for show and tell.  Often this would result in a tearful phone call home and a plea for someone to bring me what I needed. As you would know if you'd ever met my mother, there's only so many times that you can do that before you've used up all your lifelines.  

Rather than continually miss out, therefore, I had to train myself to remember things.  I write long lists to myself.  Before I go on holiday, I always stick a list of everything that I need to do and pack before I can leave to the front door and tick them off as I go. I put reminders in my phone to tell me to take my passport to work so that I can sort out a visa that I need. My calendar is full of private notes saying things like 'REMEMBER TO BUY BIN BAGS' because I'm quite capable of wondering around the supermarket on my way home from work and forgetting what I actually went there for (although that reminds me that I've needed to buy clingfilm for the best week and not remembered).

I always, for example, forget to take keys when I go to my parents' flat. Every single time I get to the front door, I remember that the keys are hanging up inside the little key cupboard next to the front door that I bought for the precise reason of remembering to take my keys with me. I also have a real problem with agreeing to do something and then forgetting all about it within seconds.   Sometimes in the time it takes to walk from one end of the office to the other, I will completely forget that I agreed to forward someone an email or pull together some information.  

All of this is really just a very long way of saying that I made these cookies for my dad and then left them sitting on the kitchen counter. I'd stayed up late the night before to ensure that he had some gluten free treats to sustain him through our day of photography because I am, sometimes, really a very nice daughter. I foolishly thought that putting the tupperware container out on the side would be enough to remind me to slip them in my bag before I left. When will I ever learn?  

And then I was going to post this on Monday but I got to work and realised that I'd forgotten to type up the recipe the night before and hadn't put my notebook (where it was scrawled) back in my bag.  

There is usually a packet of coconut macaroons somewhere about my parents' home. Most recipes are naturally gluten free and make a very acceptable alternative to a less coeliac-friendly cookie. Despite my aversion to eating coconut, particularly in its baked form, I rather enjoyed them. There's a crunch from the toasty coconut but also a wonderful stickiness from the lemon juice; the combination of coconut and lemon is one that never really gets old for me. 

Luckily I was able to bribe my dad to give me a lift home with the promise of the left-behind macaroons and they got a very definite thumbs up from him too.  

~

Coconut and lemon macaroons

Adapted from Whitworths

Yield: Approx 25 small macaroons

Ingredients

• 2 medium egg whites
• 150g dessicated coconut
• 2 teaspoons cornflour/cornstarch
• 100g caster sugar
• Zest of 1 large lemon
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a couple of baking trays with greasproof paper or a silicon mat.
2. Beat the egg whites until they are frothy (you don't need stiff peaks, just a bit of air in there).
3. Add all the other ingredients and bring together with your hands.
4. Place teaspoons (or tablespoons for large macaroons) of mixture on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.