Famous coconut macaroons with protein powder and chia seeds to boost the protein nutritional value. Your body will thank you for these because these healthy cookies have no sugar added, no flour, are gluten free and vegetarian.
I have no idea where this idea came from, but I had this idea and I was obsessed. I had to make these cookies!
A bit crunchy on the outside, absolutely moist and soft inside.
Chia seeds dried up in a baking process, gave in their gel like qualities to make the macaroons soft inside and left the black seeds on the outside for an extra crunch.
When my son came back from school and saw these, he exclaimed “Racoons!”. I couldn’t stop laughing as he totally forgot the name “macaroons”, but he had a point – these look like racoons. Don’t you agree?!:)
So, how do you make these?
First came Coconut Chia Gel, which I made a couple days ago and posted the recipe. You will need it in order to make these coconut macaroons recipe.
I promise it’s super easy. You can use it for baking muffins, cookies, cupcakes or even add to yogurt, oatmeal and smoothies like one reader noted.
Some of you might be questioning the texture of the cookies. You are used to seeing and buying spiky macaroons with long coconut flakes.
I use only organic and unsulphured coconut flakes which usually are short. Like these:
I bought this bag for $3. I’m a huge fan of unsulphured dried fruits for many reasons. It’s very hard to find wine without the sulphites though. Even organic one has them.:(
This time I used Kaizen whey protein powder in vanilla flavour because unflavoured one was out of stock. It is from New Zealand cows and is non-GMO.
Please note, this powder is sweetened with stevia, so I didn’t add any sweetener to the macaroons. If you have unflavoured one, feel free to taste the raw dough and sweeten with stevia, agave or brown sugar to your liking. There is nothing raw in the dough actually, so you won’t get sick.:) You won’t need much sweetener too.
The coconut macaroons recipe also calls for almond meal. Honestly, I have no idea why ground almonds are named almond meal. Isn’t it just an almond flour?! Anyways, you can just ground the almonds. Below are the detailed instructions.
How to Make Almond Meal
1. Place desired amount of almonds in a food processor.
2. Grind on High until almonds obtain medium coarse consistency powder.
3. Store in an airtight container for up to a couple of months in a cool dry place.
The dough should be quite thick and easy to mold with your hands.
Also you don’t need to leave much space between the cookies as they do not spread.
Ingredients
- 2 cups coconut chia gel
- 1 + 3/4 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
- 2 scoops (60g) vanilla whey protein powder, naturally sweetened
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp almond meal
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop 1 very full teaspoon of dough, place on baking sheet and form a cookie using your hands in a shape of a dome. You do not need to space cookies as they do not spread, so pack them tight.
- Bake for 20-25 mins, cool down completely before serving.
Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 21 cookies
Amount Per Serving = 1 cookie:
Calories: 92.5
Total Fat: 6.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.5 mg
Sodium: 57.3 mg
Total Carbs: 6.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.6 g
Protein: 3.8 g
WW Points+: 2