Salted Caramel Macaroons

Every year, we have a pot luck lunch at work.  This year, my department was responsible for bringing side dishes.  I pondered what I should bring.  A colleague told me she loves my desserts and that I should bring a dessert anyway.  I decided to do both.  I found this recipe and chose it because I had coconut and chocolate in the cupboard just begging to be used.  They did not turn out as expected, however.

The process of making this was fairly simple, I was just absent-minded.  I mixed ingredients and enlisted my husband's help in spooning the dough onto the baking sheets.  We noticed that the dough seemed very runny...and not at all like the picture I saw.  We plugged right along anyway.  Almost as soon as I popped them into the oven, it occurred to me...I only added half the amount of coconut.  I run back to the oven and pull them out.  I use some choice words and try to decide what to do.  They looked like a runny mess and I did not want to serve them.  I decided instead to scrape the dough off the pans and back into the bowl, slightly melted chocolate and all, add the rest of the coconut, and try again.  When it was time to take them out, I immediately attempted to transfer them from the cookie sheets to the racks, as the original directions called.  It was a gooey mess and they looked more like footballs than macaroons.  By the time I got the first sheet of footballs on the rack, I went for the second.  This time, they came right off and kept their shape, hence my advice to leave them on the sheet for about 5 minutes. 

After all the drama, they did turn out great!  It worked out that some looked like footballs, because I served them at the fantasy football draft I hosted a few days later.  I did not take a picture because I was frustrated and nervous about their taste.  I will definitely try these again, and make sure that I use enough coconut the first time.

Oh, and the colleague who requested a dessert also requested this recipe. :-)

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Start to Finish: 1 hour 50 minutes

Servings: 60 (questionable)

Ingredients

1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 jar (12.25oz) Caramel Ice Cream Topping

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt

2 bags (14oz each) shredded coconut

1 ½ cups Chopped Pecans

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate baking chips

Directions

1.       Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 2 large cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper; spray with cooking spray. 

2.      In large bowl, combine condensed milk, caramel topping, flour, and ¾ teaspoon sea salt; mix well.  Stir in coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips until well mixed.

3.      Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 1 inch apart onto cookie sheets.  Lightly sprinkle tops with remaining ½ teaspoon sea salt.

4.      Bake 15 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks after 5 minutes.  Cool completely, about 30 minutes.  Store in airtight container.