Easy Macaroon Perfect for Passover (and Easter too 🐣)
Chewy Chocolate Pecan Macaroons Perfect flourless cookie for Passover, or a fudge cookie in place of chocolate eggs in your Easter basket!
These days when you bring up macaroons most people picture either the traditional flourless coconut cookie popular for Passover, or the pretty pastel ones (these are spelled 'macaron') popularized by the famous Parisienne tea room Ladurée. My personal favorite is a macaroon cookie that my mother baked years ago using finely ground pecans and cocoa powder instead of the traditional coconut or super fine almonds of the french variety. Even though this cookie is flourless, made with no butter and only egg whites, it has a decadent, fudgy flavor. With a thin crusty exterior, this cookie cracks open to a rich chewy center. Just be sure not to over bake to allow the centers to remain moist after cooling.
Makes about 2-2 1/2 dozen Macaroons
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups pecans (5 ounces)
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
pinch salt, pinch cream of tartar
1 3/4 cups confexctioners’ sugar, sifted
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, pulse the pecans until finely ground.
Combine the pecans and the sifted cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside.
Beat egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer at high speed until foamy. Add salt and cream of tartar and continue beating until stiff. Lower speed and add confectioners sugar 1/4 cup at a time. Scrape down bowl of mixer with a spatula and continue beating 30 more seconds.
Gently fold cocoa powder and ground pecan mixture into egg whites. Spoon the batter onto the parchment paper in heaping teaspoon mounds.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tops crack slightly (cookie should look a little moist - do not overcook!).
Slide parchment paper onto to rack and allow the cookies to cool completely before removing from the parchment to serve.
Make Ahead store in an airtight container for 1 week or freeze for 1 month.
One of my favorite ways to eat this cookie is crumbled over ice cream 😊💕
Enjoy these easy cookies for a special spring holiday treat or anytime you are craving a simple low-fat chocolate cookie!