WOW! If you like chocolate and you like coconut – you’ll LOVE these! My good friend Pat helped make a batch of these raw little beauties one night. Of course throughout the experience – Pat had to continually quality test the macaroon mixture.  After dehydrating for 12 hours, then refrigerating overnight, Pat tasted one and said “Oh my God – they’re even better cold!” as if blown away they could taste any better than they were warm out of the dehydrator! They are – really – that good!

These raw treats are actually good for you too! Many people have been taught that coconuts are full of bad fat – and will make our bodies fat. Ohhh, contraire! The fat in coconuts is actually good for us. I heard a story about a rancher who thought adding coconut oil to the cattle feed would fatten-up his stock. But, the coconut fat actually had an opposite affect – the animals lost weight and became more active!!!

So, to sum it up – the fat in raw coconut is good fat the body can use; the natural sweetener, Coconut Palm Nectar, does not spike your blood sugar like cane sugar – but enters your blood stream slowly; and the raw chocolate is full of antioxidants that support good brain function. So, go ahead make these amazing macaroons and enjoy!!! The beauty of eating foods that actually have nutritional value is – your body will signal when it’s had enough. My average is about three macaroons – five if my sweet tooth is in overdrive!

Oh – and one other thing – – eating coconut oil and rubbing the oil directly into your skin will produce soft silky skin. Perfect for keeping your skin looking youthful.  So – let ‘s get the recipe out to you – shall we???

*Special equipment needed to make this recipe: Dehydrator. Raw organic ingredients can be found at health food stores and online raw food retailers. Online orders are best delivered via UPS or Fed Ex (ground) as they do not irradiate your foods with x-rays.

Raw Chocolate Macaroons

Organic Ingredients:

1/3 cup raw Coconut Oil
1/3 cup raw Coconut Butter
1-1/2 cups raw Coconut Palm Nectar
2 tbls Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Sea Salt (Celtic, Sun Fire or Himalayan Pink are recommended)
1-1/2 cup raw Cacao Powder (aka raw Chocolate Powder)

Combine Coconut Butter and Coconut Oil until well blended, then mix in Coconut Palm Nectar, Vanilla and Sea Salt.  Slowly add in Raw Cacao Powder.

Then add: (2 cups at a time)                                                                                                     6 cups Unsweetened Fancy Shredded Coconut

Mix well.

Set out four dehydrator trays topped with Teflex sheets. With the small end of a melon-baller, scoop up enough mixture to slightly over-fill it, then use your finger to scoop it out and form a small ball. Place on the tray and continue till all are formed. I fill four trays with 36 macaroons each (six rows of six), totaling 144 macaroons.

Hint: By using the small end of the melon-baller, I keep the size small and consistent – otherwise the size starts growing!  These macaroons are very rich and chewy, so keep them bite size – and they’ll dry faster too.  Also, don’t knock yourself out trying to make these perfect little balls since the fancy shredded coconut is rather spiky and unwieldy.  You can form them into rounder balls while they’re still warm after dehydrating – or you can leave them spiky.  For a smoother looking macaroon – use an unsweetened medium shredded coconut.

Set the temp at 115 degrees and dehydrate for 8-12 hours – the longer – the more solid they become. When done, remove macaroons, shape them further if you want a rounder appearance, then place in storage containers and refrigerate.  I like the macaroons cold – but others like them at room temperature.  All ingredients in this recipe are stable at room temperature – so leaving a box of these out all day will not harm them and can be placed back in the fridge and used again.

Variation:  The Vanilla Macaroon version of this recipe is also unbelievably good!  Simply add more coconut to replace the cacao powder – until batter is less wet and will dry quicker.  The Vanilla Macaroon has a light caramel flavor due to the Coconut Palm Nectar – it is scrumptiously divine!!!

Hint: I recycle clear-top sushi take-out trays and put my macaroons in them.  They look great and make terrific gifts!

Bon Appetit!