happy passover!

since tomorrow night at sundown marks the first night of passover, I thought I would pass along a tasty treat (from my fav website king arthur flour) that I will be making for das's family's passover seder. I was asked to bring dessert. because of the dietary rules and regs of passover, that rules out anything containing flour, which is, for the most part, your cakes, muffins, pies... you know... anything potentially easy. so I bring to you a sweet dessert that you may even be putting together for those non-passover days, too: chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons!

for the macaroons:
> generous (5) c. shredded unsweeted coconut
> 1-1/2 c. coconut cream - (1) 16 oz can
> 1/4 tsp. salt
> optional: 1/2 tsp. coconut flavor (like vanilla, but coconut instead)
> optional: 1/3 c. coconut milk powder

for the coating:
> 1-1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
> 2-1/2 tb. margarine (butter is dairy and thus can't be consumed with meat)
> 2 tb. honey (recipe calls for light corn syrup, but that's not kosher - literally!)

directions:
> preheat oven to 350* - lightly grease a baking sheet or line one with parchment
> in a medium bowl, mix together coconut, coconut cream, and salt (if you are adding the coconut flavor, now's the time!). stir until completely combined.
> if you are adding the coconut milk powder, do it now. while it's not necessary to add this, it really holds the coconut balls together while scooping. it just makes life a touch easier!
> drop the sticky mixture in ping-pong sized balls (that's about 1-1/2") onto the baking sheets (a cookie scoop works well here so you don't have to touch it a lot). you can place them fairly close together on the pan (3/4" - 1" apart); they won't be expanding.
> bake for about (10) minutes. note: they won't brown (or very very very little at most) so don't keep them in there until they do!
> remove from oven and cool completely before coating.
> for coating: heat the chocolate chips, margarine, and honey until the chips are soft. try the microwave, or a saucepan on low heat. dip half of the cooled macaroon into the chocolate. set it back on the baking sheet and allow the chocolate to set.
> to store, place in one layer in a closed container. they should keep for 2-3 days, but that's only if they last that long...