Orange Coconut Macaroons

      So, a few weeks ago I had a party. Of course in MY world, you can't have a party without food so I made some cookies. My BFF is allergic to chocolate, so I wanted to make three or four different kinds-some with, some without.  One of them was a new recipe for Orange Coconut Macaroons that sounded yummy.  The recipe called for 4 1/2 oz. of almond paste, which I didn't have, and I was NOT going to the store for it at 9:00 at night. So, I decided to try and substitute almond extract-which I DID have.  As I often do, I skipped the measuring and just dumped what I thought was the right amount into the food processor and let it mix away. 

    

     I thought maybe it would be a good idea to take a sniff, see if it smelled like almond and thereby judge the effectiveness of my guess. I leaned over, took a BIG breath in through my nose....and almost choked! The smell of almond and alcohol burned the inside of my nose so badly that I had to take a step back and wait a second while I tried to catch my breath and recover. Then, what do you think I did next?  That's right-with my eyes still watering I took another big sniff......with the same result! Ha ha ha-what an idiot!

     I thought maybe I had ruined the cookies, but I baked them anyway and was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be good. They were actually kind of a hit, so I thought I would share the recipe.

Here it is.......MY version!

Orange Coconut Macaroons 

3/4 C. granulated sugar        
1Tbs. finely grated orange zest            
1 tsp fresh orange juice    
2 large egg whites              
1/3 c. powdered sugar   
3 Tbs. flour
1 1/3c. packed coconut     
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 1/2 oz. almond paste OR an undetermined amount of almond extract (if you're feeling brave)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Blend sugar and orange zest in a food processor for @ 3 minutes. Add almond paste, process 1 minute. Add egg whites, orange juice, powdered sugar, flour, HALF the coconut and salt. Mix for 1 minute, then stir in remaining coconut. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake @ 25 minutes until edges start to turn brown. Eat them if you dare!