Macaroons for Kiersten

     My middle daughter Kiersten recently had an awful stomach flu. She is a very thin little girl and when she doesn't eat much for a half a week it shows. I took her to the doctor and she was diagnosed with a typical stomach virus. That was good news. She was prescribed the typical BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) along with "let her drink Gatorade and sweetened tea". Well that was nothing new to me, standard good advice. Then the doctor surprised me. She said that she wasn't sure why but for some reason macaroons were found to help aid in relief of diarrhea. The key was to have "real macaroons with real coconut."
      After we left the doctors office I headed to the store for some Gatorade and some macaroons. I was shocked at how much a smallish container of macaroons cost. $11, you have got to be kidding me!!!! I just couldn't do it. By reading the label I could tell they were loaded with garbage, super high in sugar and unpronounceable preservatives. I figured I could make them way cheaper and way better. I grabbed a bag of coconut and a case of Gatorade and went home. My entire purchase was less than $10.
     A little digging and I rounded up 3 recipes for macaroons. Each was different in some way, one was for almond macaroons, one for chocolate macaroons and one for plain. The trouble with the last two was that they called for wheat flour. I do not eat wheat. It makes me extremely sick. I figured that by changing things a bit I could create tasty gluten free cookies. The recipe became a combination of the almond and the plain macaroon. The results were heavenly.
    Here's my recipe:
                               4 egg whites
                               1/4 tsp salt
                               2/3 cup sugar
                               1 tsp real vanilla extract
                               1/2 cup almond flour
                               3 heaping cups of coconut

  In a large bowl beat egg whites with and electric mixer until foamy; beat in salt, sugar, vanilla and flour. Add coconut and stir until combined.
  Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a well greased cookie sheet (I used coconut oil) , spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are golden browned. Let cool a bit and then transfer to cooling rack.

       The cookies were enjoyed by everyone, especially by my friend who has a profound hatred of coconut. These macaroons were said to be the best anyone of them had ever eaten. My daughter Kiersten does not like coconut in general but in desperation to feel better she nibbled a couple. She started feeling better after a couple of hours. Was it the macaroons? I have no idea for sure but she was feeling well enough to return several times to the kitchen to snag 2 or 3 each trip. I indulged her for the day happy to see her eating again.

     So there you go Sara, my macaroon recipe. Happy baking!