I wanted to make coconut macaroons for Easter weekend, but like always, I wanted something more unique than the standard recipe. Suddenly lavender popped into my mind. Last summer I bought a packet of French lavender from a nice French man at Mill City Farmer’s Market. He told me to put the lavender in a glass jar and it would last forever. Lavender is so beautiful and fragrant, don’t you think?
My second wave of inspiration was vanilla bean paste.
This beauty is from William Sonoma and costs about $10. You can substitute pure vanilla extract for it.
The lavender and vanilla came together into these lovely macaroons.
Vanilla Lavender Macaroons
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 tsp lavender
1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a food processor, process 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut for a few minutes until it is finely chopped.
- Add the remaining 1 cup of coconut, rolled oats, maple syrup, vanilla bean paste, lavender and salt. Pulse in food processor until well-combined.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Flatten each mound slightly.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the bottoms of the macaroons are lightly browned. The macaroons will be very soft at this point.
- Allow the macaroons to sit at room temperature on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until they firm up and cool down.
What I love about these is that they are not overly sweet. The lavender and vanilla bean flavor really shine through. I know lavender isn’t the easiest ingredient to find but it is worth it for these macaroons.
