Coconut Macaroons and a new apron

My friend Renee is a fabulous cook and baker.  She can bake anything, and she can make it healthy too!  She makes the best coconut macaroons with exactly the right consistency.  When she heard I was making aprons she asked me to make her one.  Would you believe she has never had an apron before?  This is her first one.  My pictures of her did not turn out very well, I had very bad lighting.

I used the same pattern from my mommy and me bath time aprons.  I used a black and white material for the body and made the ties in a red material that I sewed with a contrasting black thread.

I felt like it needed something so I made a fabric flower and used a black button for the center.  I felt like it added the extra punch it needed.  Since I was showing off Renee's apron I wanted to post her coconut macaroons recipe also.

Her recipe calls for three simple ingredients.
6 egg whites (It is easiest to separate them while they are cold)
1/2 cup honey (I use local, raw honey)
2 cups unsweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 350°.  Beat egg whites until fluffy and add coconut.  Keep beating add honey and continue beating until well mixed.  (I switched my honey and coconut and my meringue fell).  Drop by tsp full on buttered cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Since my meringue fell and made mush, I made it into a coconut macaroon pie that I baked for 20 minutes.  It tasted good, but I wanted cookies, so I tried again.  Renee's cookies come out perfect, so it has to work.  I found a video from Paula Deen.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/paula's-macaroons/1369.html

 I could not get the video to embed, so here is the link though!

I decided to try making them in the way Paula did, but with Renee's ingredients.  I went ahead and added a bit of cream of tartar to the meringue.  In another bowl I mixed together the salt, coconut, honey and a tad bit of almond extract.  I then folded them together.

I used the cookie scoop like Paula Deen suggested and they made very big cookies.  I also used parchment paper to save on clean up, but the buttered pan would have been better since the cookies stuck to the paper.

I then used my small scooper on the next sheet of cookies.  I cooked them both (separately) at 350° for ten minutes.  When they came out it was like eating the meringue off the top of a pie.  Since my husband loves meringue he loved it.

They were undercooked and did not have the texture of the cookies.  I am not defeated though and I will try again.  Maybe I just need to use the sweetened condensed milk instead of the honey although the honey is definitely healthier.  They tasted great though and were definitely eaten!  Renee, you can make me the cookies anytime you want!