Paleo Dark Chocolate Macaroons

Oh man are these tasty little treats. They are super easy and you can adjust the honey to make them less sweet and slightly more healthy if you like. They can also be made in a variety of ways (see variation below). 







INGREDIENTS
3 cups desiccated coconut
1 cup (+/- 6) egg whites
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
100g bar of 90% chocolate
Almonds (optional)


PROCESS
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
2. In a bowl beat together egg whites and salt until fluffy. You can beat them till they're stiff if you like but it doesn't make a huge difference to the outcome
3. Add coconut, honey and vanilla and combine
4. Form into desired shapes onto baking sheet and top with an almond (optional) and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown
5. Remove from oven and place in freezer for a few minutes to cool down
6. Melt dark chocolate and place a small dab of it evenly space out on baking paper for the number of macaroons you made (do this only once macaroons are cool)
7. Place one cooled macaroon on each chocolate dab and then drizzle remaining chocolate over the tops. Again place in the freezer to cool so that chocolate hardens
8. Try not to eat all at once

VARIATION
I also tried making these into macaroon squares. Instead of individual ones, I spread the macaroon mixture in an even layer in a baking tray, baked it, and then placed the whole thing on top of a layer of melted chocolate. I was feeling adventurous so I added dark chocolate chips to this macaroon mixture and also added coconut flakes and macadamia nuts to the chocolate layer underneath. It is a little tricky to get the macaroon layer onto the melted chocolate layer, but well worth it! YUM!