Coconut and Dark Chocolate Mockaroons

Today, an indulgence. A recipe that is simple and decadent and just plain friggin' awesome. We tend to make these cookies around Christmastime, when the cookie-baking-spirit really abounds, but also about three or four times during the rest of the year just for the hell of it (see above, re: awesome).  Warning-- if you're not a coconut fan, these are not for you. If you're not a chocolate fan, go jump in a lake.  Okay, well, that may just be my personal opinion. I have actually been told by several self-professed non-chocaholics  (incomprehensible members of the human race) that they quite like these cookies because they're not that chocolate-y and have an interesting mix of tastes.  

Coconut "Mockaroons" Dipped in Dark Chocolate
adapted from German baking magazine Plätzchen a long long time ago

Makes ca. 30

Ingredients
150g shredded coconut
200g sugar
the zest of half a lemon, must be fresh, recommend organic
4 egg whites
30g flour
dark chocolate, melted, for dunking
optional but helpful: edible wafers (german: backoblaten) 

Instructions
Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Combine shredded coconut, sugar, and fresh lemon zest in a bowl suspended over boiling water for ten minutes, mixing gently with a spoon.  Remove from heat and let cool. Add flour and mix until just combined. Scoop the dough with two small spoons to create mounds about 3 cm (1 inch) in diameter. If you have edible wafers, use them as a substrate for the dough; if not, you may need to add a little flour to help them hold, but only a little. Bake for 15 minutes until barely brown. Melt chocolate (I like to use really dark chocolate, ie. 75-85% if that's not to your taste, anything above 60% does fine too). When 'Mockaroons' have cooled, dunk each about half way into the chocolate. Let the coating cool and harden on a baking tray.Voila, enjoy!

I have kept these in cookie cans and Tupperware outside the fridge for up to a month and they still tasted great! Unfortunately I have no experience trying to freeze either the finished product or the dough, so no advice there.

Look up at the Sky!

--Zanna