Over the past year and a half, my culinary lifestyle has changed dramatically .....! I used to be the girl who has always been voted "most likely to open a French bakery" or a similar kind of property, and oh things that I could do: Delicate little petits fours, cabbages to fancy cream and cupcakes, full-sized, imposing and flowery wedding cakes.
But I will not tell you this story today. He is a long, hardworking one and honestly, who wants to hear all that depressing anyway? Instead, I prefer to focus on my most current obsession that involves, that's right .... COOKING! Yes, you read it right: I'm still obsessed with cooking. Of course, life did not throw me a bit of a curved ball and for about a second I thought my cooking days were over, but like Winston Churchill says ....
So, in this case, I chose to be optimistic, which is really not like me at all, but the boy I'm glad I did. There was definitely a period of adaptation to all the different cooking mediums that I had to work with, but on the other side of it our house was once again filled with wonderful cooked delights such as ... cinnamon buns, first carrot cake balls, donuts, cream oat pie biscuits, fluffy pancakes, lemon pies, marshmallows, cup cakes and more. All rights to cereals, dairy products, refined sugars and added starches. I could even do a little "break" the fancy birthday cake for a friend's darling girl! It was quite a challenge, and it is true that it took a while, but eventually the "old me" started to emerge again, that now it was a better, more stable and dynamic me!
The recipe I chose for you today is a favorite in our home. It recalls the days when I could not still have eggs (which really did the most insurmountable cooking thing), but even without eggs, these little macaroons certainly hit the spot! I think you'll enjoy them as much as we did.
Instructions:
In a bowl, mix the almond and coconut flour.
In another bowl, mix honey, coconut oil, vanilla, vanilla bean seeds and salt and mix well.
Add the honey mixture for the dry ingredients and mix well (I prefer to use my hands for it helps to get the bean vanilla seeds distributed throughout the "dough")
Using a "measure" rounded soup spoon, gently press the macaroon paste into the spoon, then turn the spoon upside down and press the cookie into your hand. Place gently on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat with the rest of the dough.
Bake in a (90-93C) 195-200F oven for about 45-50 minutes. The outside should be dried a little and the interior should be soft and mellow. For raw macaroons, place in your dehydrator until they are slightly dry on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Times vary depending on the temperature and dehydration used.
Allow the macaroons to rest for at least 15 minutes before transferring. They will be very delicate yet hot but very solid once cooled. We like our chilled macaroons.