And for the letter C…..

These cookies were made for Victor’s mom’s birthday. They are Chocolate Chip Molasses and Coconut Macaroons.

At our last Christmas party, Victor’s sister brought the most amazing ginger cookies with chocolate chips in them. After polishing them off, I thought about these cookies frequently; my goal was to make them myself. Of course, asking her for the recipe would have been one way to guarantee that I made the actual same cookie. Instead, I scoured the internet for something that seemed similar. I found a molasses chocolate chip recipe that I thought would yield the cookie sought. But ginger does not equal molasses and therefore the resulting cookies, while very tasty and also highly recommended, were no where near the cookie I set out to make.

In Europe, the macaroon cookie is made from powdered almonds. Per Wikipedia, the macaroon actually originated in Italy but then was later passed onto the Jewish community in France, hence why they are mainly associated with French bakeries . The North America macaroon is a bit different. It comprised of coconut, sugar and egg whites and is generally a Passover sweet treat since they are unleavened. I tend to make some North American macaroons in the spring as the markets typically put coconut on sale around this time. I used a new recipe this year which, while tasty, was a bit too wet which resulted in the cookies spreading out more than usual.

Here is the Wikipedia link for more interesting information about macaroons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroon

Here is a link to Paulette, a French bakery in Los Angeles which specializes in macaroons made from powdered almonds:
http://www.paulettemacarons.com/go/welcome.htm