#FoodMemories: Macaroon cookies

MANILA, Philippines – These past few months, I have been longing for food that I remember from my youth but have not had for quite some time. I recall my favorite “pan de coco” from Tasterite Bakery at the Project 6 Market. It was not filled with the typical coconut and brown sugar filling; [I remember] it seemed like coconut moistened with condensed milk.

I also remember my Grandmother’s macaroon cookies. During the summer vacation months, she would make merienda [high tea] for all of her apos [grandchildren] which meant a treat of the cookies with kakanin [rice cake] and halo-halo.

She would drop small spoonfuls on squares of wax paper. Hers was chewy, crispy on the sides and difficult to remove from the paper. I just loved it so much — it didn’t matter that I was eating the bit of wax paper stubbornly stuck to my morsel!

One afternoon, I decided to give it a shot and make a batch, recalling as best as I could from taste bud memory. What I came up with was not as chewy, but the taste was almost like my childhood favorite.

With silicon mats now available — my kids didn’t have to chew on wax paper like I did! 

Ingredients:

• 3 c dessicated coconut
• 1 can or tetra pack of condensed milk (250 ml)
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 c butter, melted
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 c flour mixed with 1/2 t baking soda
• Optional: 1 zest of dayap or lemon 

1. Pre-heat oven to about 275 to 300 degrees. Beat eggs, add condensed milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and hand mix. [Not much arm action here, don’t worry.] 

2. Slowly add flour and baking soda mixture. Add zest. 

3. Drop spoonfuls and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. 

4. For a bit of decoration, top with glazed pili nuts before putting in the oven. [Glazed pili nuts can be bought from the grocery.]

I’m not really much of a baker, so I check the cookies in the oven every now and then. 

Serve to your family with your favorite merienda drink. – Rappler.com

Check out our other recipes:

 Cooking is one of Marie Pascual’s biggest expressions of love. She is a high-ranking executive in a retail company on weekdays. On weekends, she cooks up a storm for the 3 men in her life: her husband of 21 years Emi and her two college boys Jam and Miggy.

It is this same passion and curiosity that takes their family to places that are not normally included in a traveler’s itinerary.

 Marie is a regular contributor to Appetite Magazine. Her food blog www.kitchenkitchiekoo.com is currently undergoing renovation so she can share more of her flavor adventures.