Cream Cheese and Lemon Macaroons

[gmurphy]

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Hi Karen! I've had fun with many of your recipes, but have a question about this one (and others that use Macadamia Nuts). The only Macadamia's I find are the ones in the jar which are salted. Is this the kind to use for things like these macaroons and your choc. truffle recipe? I want to be sure before I screw up a recipe with expensive (but salty) nuts! Thanks!

[Karen]

Thanks GJM!

If you have doubts about the macadamias, you can use almonds instead and adjust the carb count. The salted ones will be fine to use if you like the taste of them, or don't have to use any at all. They are nice in the chocolate, but not essential in the macaroons.

Is there a bulk food or natural foods store in your area? Give them a call as they would be your best source of macadamias.

Karen

[Susanjoyce]

Karen On the recipe for Cream Cheese and Lemon Macaroons there is no tempature to bake the cookies at Help! I/m getting ready to throw them in the oven at 350 hope thats ok. Let me know the right temp. for the next time please.
Thanks Susan

[Karen]

Whoops!~

Yep! It's 350 F. I'll get that fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.

Karen

[donnaj]

Thanks Karen for the recipe. Can I eat these on induction? I hope so but if I can't I well fix them soon after I finish induction. :Party: coming up and these whould be great. :wave:

[Karen]

Nope! It's best to eat stuff like this on a really occasional basis or you could get into big trouble!

Karen

[donnaj]

:cry: I didn't think I could and I well not make them for awhile but I have a copy printed out for later.
Karen, do no of a recipe I can eat while on induction. :wave:

[Karen]

The Coffee Jelly is good and low in carbs and just plain old SF Jello is great. You can make it with half water and half cream for something more interesting.

Karen

[IslandGirl]

Is this the kind to use for things like these macaroons and your choc. truffle recipe?

Hey, greetings, GMurphy (and sorry this is SO long after your note).

I made the macaroons for Christmas, though, and thought it might help somebody else here.

I basically quickly rinsed off about a cup of macadamias (the roasted salted Mauna Loa ones) and then spread them out on a cookie sheet and popped them into a preheated 350F oven for 10 minutes, watching them the whole time. They browned nicely around the edges and smelt fabulous. Once they were cooled, into the food processor, a few pulses and "voila!" I had yummy golden macadamia crumbs with hardly any salt.

I think I'd sprinkle them on top of the macaroons in future, just to admire :D them, but it worked just fine and nothing was ruined.

Hope this helps somebody :wave:

[donnaj]

Karen, what is Coffee jelly?

[Karen]

The recipe is in my recipe section.

Karen

[Cinderella]

I was looking in my Food Count BIBLE...and it states that the fiber count is 7.2 (for coconut)

If we subtract that by the 12.2 count....we come out with 5 !!!

Please tell me I'm right!!

Less carbs per cookie????

hugs....Cin

[Karen]

You are right!

THis was - I think - recipe #3 that was posted, way before fitday existed.

I should revise the older ones!

Karen

[Cinderella]

Right ON!! You sure made my day. I couldn't find mac nuts where I live. I put in a couple tbsp more of cream by accident so our my total for the entire recipe is 13.8

I got 12 cookies (yep, large, hehehe).
Sooo...about a carb a treat!


What a wonderful treat!

hugs...cin :wave:

[lesleyc]

Hi Karen,

Just wanted to let you know that I have made a couple of batches of the macaroons...totally devine!

I will be stocking the tins with these as an Xmas treat. I thought I might drizzle some LC chocolate on the top as a kind of icing, and to make them a bit more indulgent. :D

.....you are a God send ;)

Lesley

[Karen]

Thanks Lesley!

Can you find cocoa nibs down there? They're chunks of cocoa beans that are great in the macaroons. Great with orange flavouring instead of lemon and drizzled with a bit of melted chocolate!

Karen

[lesleyc]

Thanks Karen!

Haven't heard of cocoa nibs...but I like the idea of the orange...especially with the chocolate...yummy! I might just do that for Xmas.

Lesley

[penelope]

Thank you Karen ,
I made these last night . I can’t believe how fast and easy these are . I love the hint of lemon coming trough I am restraining myself . DH loves them too .
How long can I keep the Macaroon’s in the fridge?
I used a mini ice cream scoop and got 21 out of the recipe. They came out like cute little balls.
Are they supposed to be creamy on the inside?
I tried lowering and extending the baking after the initial baking temperature to see if I could get them near the texture of the exterior .
I thought that maybe you flattened yours?

Thanks again


Pene

[Karen]

Are they supposed to be creamy on the inside?

Yes they are. You can add more coconut to make them stiffer, just remember to up the carb count. They will last a week in the fridge.

Remember that sugar creates the "glue" for a lot of baked items and macaroons are basically sugar, egg white and coconut. So, we have to find other ways of glueing stuff together without getting into a lot of gums and other things. Cream cheese usually works well.

Karen

[lené]

Ok, I know this is an old thread, but I just have to ask -- is there anything I can substitute for the coconut in these? I know macaroons are supposed to have it, but I can't stand the stuff! LOL (I used to make the lovely frosting for German choc. cake with all chopped pecans and no coconut, too, just 'cause I loved the frosting but not the main ingredient. <g>) Would finely chopped nuts work as a substitute in these cookies, do ya think?

Lene'

[Karen]

Yeah, you could use toasted sliced almonds and have cream cheese almond mounds! :) Don't soak them in the whipping cream though because the cream wont be absorbed by the almonds. In fact, don't use any cream at all. I would add 1/2 ounce of grated, unsweetened chocolate to this. :yum:

Karen

[lené]

Oooh, that sounds perfect! Thanks! I don't make treats often (get my treat quota just from having a couple cups of good coffee a day <g>) but I need to start making some sort of LC yummies a couple times a month, to keep the kid and hubby smiling and not feeling deprived. This sounds like one they'd love.

Karen, I'm another from the US anxiously awaiting your LC book. You'll be sure to let us know the day it hits the stores, I hope!

Lene'

[CarolynC]

Is the whipping cream in this recipe supposed to be whipped? If so, does the 1/2 cup refer to a whipped or unwhipped (liquid) volume?

Thanks for the recipe!

[Karen]

Is the whipping cream in this recipe supposed to be whipped? Nope! Leave it un-whipped. :)

Karen

[CarolynC]

Nope! Leave it un-whipped. :)

Karen
Thanks, Karen! That's what I did when I made these this morning and the batter came out runny and the baked cookies ran were thin on the sides. Also, I used DaVinci syrup rather than solid splenda. Maybe I should have added more coconut to account for this. They do taste good, however! :)

[Karen]

Also, I used DaVinci syrup rather than solid splenda. That's odd! Did you let the mixture sit for an hour?

Karen

[CarolynC]

That's odd! Did you let the mixture sit for an hour?

Karen
Yes, a little over an hour. But, my unsweetened coconut was very dry to start with and it didn't really seem to absorb the liquid.

[Karen]

Hmm...Try mixing the two then microwaving it for one minute. Then let it sit for an hour. It will help the coconut absorb the liquid.

Karen

[CarolynC]

Hmm...Try mixing the two then microwaving it for one minute. Then let it sit for an hour. It will help the coconut absorb the liquid.

Karen
Thanks, I'll do that!

[liftnlady]

these look awesome..deadly, but awesome

[valf]

I just made these and they came out flat and so fragile they break when I pick them up. I used unsweetened coconut, heavy whipping cream, and splenda and let it sit for an hour. After adding the other ingredients, it was still very runny so I added another 1/4 cup of the coconut. The batter was still very loose, but I tried them and got the flat, fragile cookies. Any suggestions on what I did wrong?
Thanks!
Val

[Karen]

I don't think it's you, it's probably the coconut. :)

If it's too moist or not fine enough, the cookies will be flat. I also use brick cream cheese, not the spreadable kind.

The coconut I use most often - because it's easy to find - looks like this (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:jLXVifdms-gJ:http://www.lowcarbpleasure.com/descoconut2.jpg), but I've also used long and thin shredded coconut (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:EPPEQ0oygWoJ:http://www.lowcarbpleasure.com/coconut1.jpg).

Karen

[binki]

Some people over at another board are having the same problem:
here's the thread (http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=312008). I wish I could just tell everybody in that thread to come here, but that board's policy forbids it.

[Karen]

Here's something weird...

A few weeks ago I was demonstrating these on TV. The food stylist made a batch that were flat. On camera I made another batch using her ingredients and mine came out correctly. Go figure! :)

Made them in Hong Kong two weeks ago and they were great. The dried, unsweetend coconut there is very fine.

What I recommend to fix this problem is to grind the coconut finer in a food processor or coffee grinder, then measuring out 1 cup.

Karen

[binki]

I've now made these... well, let's just say more than once and leave it at that...

I used the "macaroon" size shreds from Honeyville Grain, and they worked just great, not even requiring the hour soaking time. They're much finer than the picture in the book, but taste just great.

I added a bit of salt to the recipe, incidentally, and recommend doing that. The first batch I made was kind of flat tasting, to me, and the salt fixed it.

I also added a drop of lemon extract to one batch (we were having raclette for dinner and I wanted the macaroons to be extra lemony to kind of counteract the cheesiness of dinner.) That turned out well.