Coconut Macaroons with a Quadratini Surprise  

Our last item in MARY’s secret ingredients spring box is the hazelnut or dark chocolate Loacker Quadratini, the number one wafer cookie in Italy. Now this cookie is so good, it really doesn’t need anything but you and your mouth. Many of you have written on your social pages that this cookie package was the first thing you dug into and most likely polished off the full bag in one sitting. It’s easy to do. They are great, of course with ice cream or even crushed on top of yogurt, ice cream or sorbet. So honestly, I was stumped to come up with something more to enhance these cute little squares until I came up with this idea – Coconut Macaroons with a Quadratini Surprise!

We were having our dear friends, Maria and Joey, over for dinner last night and these Coconut Macaroons with a Quadratini Surprise were our dessert, along with some blood orange and lemon sorbet, garnished with a strawberry. I really wasn’t sure if this recipe idea was going to work, but amazingly, it did!! The Quadratini still held their crunch and with the surprise chocolate or hazelnut burst, they were awesome! Needless to say, this dessert was memorable. We all ate too many and talked about it this morning (they spent the night – and it’s always a good sign when you talk about a dish again in the morning) but nothing that a brisk walk or gym workout wouldn’t take off today.

For those of you who didn’t receive the spring box, you can certainly make these cookies without the Quadratini surprise, although I highly recommend this inner delight! Much better than just coconut throughout. Here’s the recipe.

COCONUT MACAROONS WITH A QUADRATINI SURPRISE – makes 20 – 22 cookies

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
20 -22 Loacker Quadratini Dark Chocolate or Hazelnut cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop 1 teaspoon of  the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper, place a Quadratini wafer cookie in the middle and cover with another teaspoon of cookie dough to cover up the inner cookie completely, especially on the sides. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy all the compliments!