Vanilla Macaroons
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~ raw, vegan, gluten-free ~
Ok, this recipe is a must-have, keep it in your arsenal of “people-pleasing recipes!” The delicate flavor of vanilla is so faint, that it almost has a hint of a sugar cookie taste.
To be honest I made these cookies 2 weeks ago but ran out of time to make a frosting for the centers. Today, I saw them in the fridge and thought, “Oooh no, I hope they are still good!” Sure enough, they still tasted amazing!
I whipped up some vanilla frosting and sandwiched it between two macaroon cookies. It looked so darn good I had to take a bite and then all the frosting squished out the sides. No worries, I lapped it up just fine. :)
For those of you who can demonstrate self-control, slip them back into an airtight container and place them in the fridge or freezer to firm them up. I have a whole wheel of flavors rolling around in my head already, so stay tuned. I see more macaroons in our future. This recipe was inspired by Everyday Raw Desserts.
I have made these with raw agave powder but I now make them with Markus Sweet to help reduce the amount of sugar we are consuming. It’s classified as an antioxidant that fights free radicals. It passes right through the body without being absorbed and has no effect on the gastrointestinal tract.
It tastes like brown sugar with a hint of caramel. Zero calories, zero glycemic so it doesn’t raise blood sugar or insulin. Another reason I have started to use it is that it doesn’t feed Candida or yeast. Use whichever sweetener you feel comfortable with. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Please share your experience below if you make them. Blessings, amie sue
Ingredients:
yields 20-21 (1 Tbsp each)
Macaroons:
- 1 cup (100 g) shredded coconut, powdered
- 1 cup (120 g) raw cashew flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) Markus Sweet (powdered) or Erythritol
- 3 Tbsp (60 g) maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (58 g) water
- 1/2 tsp (2 g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp (2 g) Himalayan pink salt
Delicate Vanilla Frosting:
- 1 cup raw cashews, soak 2+ hours
- 1 1/8 cup young Thai coconut milk
- 1/2 cup raw agave nectar or maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp (2 g) Himalayan pink salt
- 1/2 cup cold-pressed coconut oil, melted
- 1 Tbsp sunflower powder lecithin
Preparation:
Macaroons:
- In the food processor combine the coconut flour, cashew flour, and powdered sweetener. Pulse together to mix.
- You can use a fine almond flour in place if the cashews if need be. Both work great.
- Powder dried, unsweetened coconut shreds to a flour-like texture.
- If you use Markus Sweet, grind it down to a finer powder in a Magic Bullet, dry Vitamix carafe, or spice grinder. This will remove any grittiness that it may add.
- Grind the dried coconut into a flour-like texture in a small grinder.
- Add the liquid sweetener, water, and vanilla. Process until it creates a nice smooth batter.
- Fill a 1 Tbsp (20 g) cookie scoop with batter and level off the top.
- Place the cookie on the teflex sheet that comes with your dehydrator. I made the mistake of placing them on the mesh sheet. It worked OK, but it was a bugger to get the cookies off of it. Please learn from my mistake. I sure did. :)
- If you don’t have a cookie scoop, roll approx. 1 Tbsp of batter into a ball and slightly flatten it out onto the teflex sheet.
- Dehydrate at 145 degrees (F) for one hour and then reduce to 115 degrees (F) and continue drying for up to 16 hrs.
- Keep checking on them they reach the dryness level that you desire.
- Mine turned out nice and chewy with a slightly moist center.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge to extend the shelf life. Mine were in there for 2 weeks while I was waiting to take the time to make the center filling and they still tasted amazing.
Delicate Vanilla Frosting:
- Drain the soaked cashews and place in a high-powered blender. Add the coconut milk, sweetener, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt. Blend until creamy smooth.
- Depending on the blender this can take 1-3 minutes.
- With the blender running, drizzle in the coconut oil. Once that is well-incorporated add the lecithin and finish blending.
- Chill the frosting in the fridge for 30 minutes or longer so it can firm up.
- Frost the cookies and enjoy!
- I opted to drizzle some chocolate on top… optional but it sure looks lovely.
Culinary Explanations:
- Why do I start the dehydrator at 145 degrees (F)? Click (here) to learn the reason behind this.
- When working with fresh ingredients it is important to taste test as you build a recipe. Learn why (here).
- Don’t own a dehydrator? Learn how to use your oven (here). I do however truly believe that it is a worthwhile investment. Click (here) to learn what I use.
Sorry for the different photo color temperatures. I rely on natural lighting. Oy-vey! :)
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Create 1 Tbsp sized balls.
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Roll and slightly flatten.
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© AmieSue.com
Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, Vegan
This looks almost like the conventional version!
I must try this… but need to buy some agave powder (is this necessary)?
Can I sub the agave nectar for coconut nectar?
Hi Angie,
If you don’t use the agave powder you may need to increase the liquid agave to get the sweet level desired. For issues then with consistency, you might want to increase one or both of the flours a tad. I haven’t tried it so you will have to play a bit. Let me know if you try. Happy Holidays! amie sue
I used liquid agave only and didn’t add any additional dry ingredients. In fact, I even added a bit of water and the dough was still quite stiff. They’re in the dehydrator now and they smell delicious. :)
Each recipe is volatile to the ingredients used…I hope they taste delightful!
They tasted good, but I wasn’t loving them by themselves. (Perhaps it’s because I’m such a chocolate lover :). The vanilla icing didn’t turn out as I expected. I was afraid it would be too soft to be a filling. So I decided to use it as a topping instead. And then I decided to add cranberries (I had these frozen from Thanksgiving – they were simply chopped, mixed with a bit of agave and dehydrated just long enough to be soft) on top – a perfect flavor to cut a little of the sweetness and vanilla flavor. I think they were great. And folks at the party last night thought so, too. Someone said they tasted like cheesecake. I could have piped the icing to make them prettier – maybe next time I will, but they were delicious. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2820037977072&set=a.1335433262882.2050022.1142588099&type=3&theater
And then I made another variation. I mixed some of the vanilla icing with chocolate ganache and discovered a lovely chocolat mousse icing. My husband tried to eat it all! :) I topped some of the cookies with this chocolate mousse icing and garnished them with a few cacao nibs. Again, I could have piped them for a prettier cookie. Also, the chocolate mousse icing reminded me of a pie filling, so I had the idea to use this cookie dough (minus much of the sweetener) as a pie crust and fill it with the chocolate mousse. I think that will happen for Christmas!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2820037977072&set=a.1335433262882.2050022.1142588099&type=3&theater
Sorry for such a long comment :)
I made the chocolate mousse pie I described by mixing chocolate ganache and vanilla icing. I used the cookie recipe minus most of the sweetener for the crust. I also added a bit of coconut oil to the crust. Then I pressed it into a pie plate and dehydrated it. The mousse was marvelous. And together, the mousse and crust complemented each other. It was wonderfully rich and decadent. Certainly not an everyday recipe, but it was a Christmas hit! Everyone adored it. I think this would be wonderful in mini tarts, too.
Sounds yummy Kim, thank you for sharing :)
Another inspiring recipe! Just love your site! I can t find agave powder where I live…. Is it supposed to be a sweatener? What could I replace it with? Maple syrup? Honey?
Good morning Caroline,
I realize that agave powder is a unique ingredient… which is why I wanted to use it. :) My site is all about experimenting and trying new things. If ever interested you can order it here.. http://astore.amazon.com/nouraw-20/detail/B008CHL5TS but until that day… I would suggest mixing the batter up as is but without the agave powder, taste test it and see if the sweetness level is good for you and then test the texture. Will the batter hold a cookie shape. From there you can try adding one of the sweeteners you mentioned but do it slowly till you reach the right consistency. Without having tried it myself, it is hard for me to confident in telling you what the outcome would be. Please keep me posted if you try it. Have a great day, amie sue
Dear Ami-Sue, like always a great THANK YOU for all your wonderful recipes. You are my favorite raw food website!
I did those today and added instead of agave coconut sugar (I pulverized it). they are in the dehydrator now and I will use as a cream in the middle your buttercup coffee cream. It was delicious and I still have some from the weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=558805857538082&set=a.558805770871424.1073741832.545519988866669&type=1&theater
Ummm, sounds lovely Janet. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. So many fun things to do with raw foods! Have a blessed week. amie sue
I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH YOUR RECIPES!
I live in Australia and was wondering what I could use instead of Sunflower Lecithin. Just normal Lecithin powder? Or Agar Agar?
xx
That is just music to my ears Claire :) Thank you.
You can use normal lecithin powder (same measurement) in place of the sunflower lecithin. What we know as normal lecithin is soy based and as long as you don’t have any issues with soy, make sure you look for non-GMO ones. Agar, psyllium, flax, chia can sometimes be used in place… but it will always depend on the recipe. If you ever have a recipe in question, please let me know and I will help you through it. Many blessings, amie sue
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what if I do not have a dehydrater??
Hello Mardee,
I have a link posted in the recipe on what you can try if you don’t have a dehydrator. Look under the heading Culinary Explanations:
Have a blessed day, amie sue