With their tender and soft texture, these chocolate drizzled strawberry coconut macaroons are such a fun treat! You'll enjoy flavors of sweetened coconut and bright natural strawberries, all made more special by a dark chocolate dip and drizzle. These cookies are a wonderful smaller-batch dessert for Valentine's Day.
I've come back from the future (2024) to revamp this nearly nine (!) year old recipe for strawberry coconut macaroons.
Always delicious and fun for a party, every time I'd make these cookies I'd blot away as much moisture as I could from the chopped fresh strawberries, but always wish I'd gotten a little more. Inevitably they'd flatten and spread some in the oven, and while perfectly enjoyable, it got my goat.
Sometime between then and now I learned about freeze-dried strawberries, saw how readily available they are to buy at Trader Joe's, and had a lightbulb moment on how I could avoid the spreading issue altogether. As expected, they were the solution to my spreading problem.
So here they are! These chocolate-drizzled strawberry coconut macaroons get a little toasty on the outside, but still feature a soft and chewy center. You'll taste the strawberry notes along with the main coconut flavor, giving a nod to a classic macaroon. And while you can stop there, why not evoke a little chocolate covered strawberry situation and give them a little dip and drizzle in dark chocolate?
Jump to:
Why You'll Love These Cookies
- They have a fun flavor. You'll taste sweet coconut and a strawberry tang, with both flavors nicely pairing with dark chocolate. Strawberry coconut macaroons would be a perfect cookie for Valentine's Day.
- They don't spread. I've made versions of this recipe with fresh strawberries, and there was no getting around the fact that the moisture made the macaroons spread. Using freeze-dried strawberries is the answer!
- They have quick prep. With no chilling required, macaroons are fairly straight-forward to put together.
Recipe Ingredients
- Flaked Coconut: This is sweetened and sometimes called "snowflake coconut". It can be found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips and is used raw in this recipe, so save your toasted coconut for something else (chewy toasted coconut cookies, perhaps?). Do not use unsweetened coconut flakes as they are drier.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: These are shelf-stable and key in providing fruit flavor and a rosy hue without adding extra moisture. I reliably find these at Trader Joe's.
- Egg Whites: Two large egg whites bind all of the ingredients together.
- Almond Extract: A little bit complements the coconut and strawberry flavors so well.
- Dark Chocolate: For dipping and drizzling over the cooled macaroons. Semi-sweet or milk chocolate can be used if that's your preference instead.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Process the freeze-dried strawberries. The crisp pieces will mostly turn into dust with some larger pieces remaining. It doesn't have to be completely smooth.
- Blitz the coconut. Pulse until the shreds are broken down into small pieces.
- Whip the egg white mixture. Using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites, granulated sugar, almond extract, and salt for 1-2 minutes or until soft peaks form.
- Stir together. Fold/gently stir in the strawberry "dust" and blitzed coconut until evenly combined.
- Shape. Densely pack the mixture into a 1 ½-tablespoon capacity cookie scoop adn overturn onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake on the middle rack at 325°F for 20-25 minutes, or until the bottom edges and tops are golden brown.
- Drizzle. Once the strawberry coconut macaroons are totally cool, melt chocolate in 20-second intervals in the microwave (or with a double boiler). Dip the bottoms of each cookie into the chocolate, then drizzle the remaining chocolate over top. Let the chocolate harden before serving or storing.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- This recipe has a smaller yield (12 cookies) and given that macaroons don't spread much at all, you can get away with baking them all on one cookie sheet without issue.
- Reuse the parchment paper from baking as the surface on which to place the just-dipped cookies. The chocolate bottoms will release cleanly once solidified.
- If any bits of the coconut mixture separate when releasing the cookies onto the baking sheet, just press them back into place with your hands and reshape before baking.
- Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 5 days, or extend that a little longer if refrigerated. They can also be frozen for 3-4 months, laying parchment or wax paper between layers to prevent them from sticking to one another. If kept in proper conditions they'd likely be fine to eat after that point, but can take on a freezer burnt taste as time goes by.
Related Recipes
If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating in the recipe card and/or a comment review below!
Chocolate Drizzled Strawberry Coconut Macaroons
Ingredients
- 1 ounce freeze-dried strawberries (roughly 1 ½ cups whole)
- 7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
- 2 large egg whites
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- 3 ounces dark chocolate chunks or chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place freeze-dried strawberries in the bowl of a food processor and process until mostly powdered. It's okay if some larger pieces remain as it won't become totally smooth. Remove powdered strawberries to a bowl.
- Add the coconut flakes to the now-empty food processor and pulse until the shreds are broken up into smaller, flaky pieces.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour in the egg whites and add the granulated sugar, almond extract, and salt. Beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes until frothy and soft peaks form.
- Gently stir the powdered strawberries and coconut into the bowl of egg whites until evenly combined.
- Densely pack the mixture into a 1 ½-tablespoon cookie scoop, then place the cookies evenly-spaced on the parchment-lined baking sheet. These macaroons don't spread very much at all, so they don't need a ton of room.
- Bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes or until the bottom edges of the macaroons have browned and the top coconut flakes are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the macaroons cool on the pan.
- Once the cookies have cooled entirely, melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in twenty-second intervals on half-power, stirring after each interval, until the chocolate loses shape and stirring results in a smooth, dippable consistency. Alternatively you may melt chocolate in a double boiler if you prefer.
- Set out the sheet of parchment paper to catch drips and dip the bottoms of each macaroon into chocolate, placing them onto the parchment once dipped. Once all of the bottoms have been dipped, transfer the melted chocolate into a piping bag (or a plastic bag with a small corner snipped off) to drizzle chocolate on the top of the cookies. Let harden fully before serving or storing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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Mary says
Made these with unsweetened coconut and they were perfect! I only had about 4 oz of coconut so I halved the rest of the recipe and used a 1 tbsp measurer to get 13 mini macaroons. Baked the same amount of time. They turned out awesome. Thanks!
Alyssa says
Awesome! I'm so glad you enjoyed them, Mary. I love the idea of mini macaroons for when I'm running low on ingredients but have a craving. I'll be giving that a shot! 🙂
Alyssa says
I'm a huge coconut fan Catherine! Thank you!
Alyssa says
Haha you know I would Kathy! 🙂
Alyssa says
Thank you Katalina! Chocolate on top definitely makes things extra sweet! 🙂
Alyssa says
Thanks so much Monica!
Alyssa says
Haha that store is definitely trouble Michelle! Thanks! 🙂
Alyssa says
Thanks Cindy! The distance (although it's not THAT far) has definitely made us better planners. Still it was so nice to be able to zip out to a store and pick up something I forgot without taking up a big chunk of the afternoon!
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen says
I saw these macaroons on Facebook today and couldn't believe how incredible they looked. Love the strawberry and chocolate combination!
Alyssa says
Thanks so much Christin! I think I'd be a fan of anything strawberry + chocolate flavored. 🙂
Erin@WellPlated says
San Diego will forever be one of my favorite cities. Glad you guys had a great time! I'm also loving this fun twist on classic macaroons. What a great flavor combo!
Alyssa says
San Diego is definitely a beauty! Thanks Erin!
Ashley | The Recipe Rebel says
This is brilliant. I love macaroons AND strawberries and chocolate! I also love San Diego -- jealous!
Alyssa says
Thanks Ashley! So many of my favorites all rolled into one, too. 🙂
Alyssa says
Oh it was great! So nice about the Nordstrom Rack. Our closest one now is about 20-25 minutes away. Whomp! Right before we moved they opened an Off Saks outlet right next door to our Nordstrom Rack there...it was probably a good idea we left town! Haha
Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen says
Well, aren't these beautiful and delicious looking little cookies, Alyssa! I totally love them and I love the color too. They look so tasty!
Alyssa says
Thanks Kristi! I'm so tempted to add every fruit and candy I have laying around into macaroons!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
I love San Diego! I'm trying to convince my husband to move there...it's not quite working! 🙂 These macaroons are gorgeous, Alyssa! I love the chocolate and strawberry combo! Yum!
Alyssa says
Haha well if you take a trip out in the winter, you'll escape the frigid weather where you guys are and maybe he'll become smitten, too! Thanks!
Ashley says
First, these are so pretty! I love how they are pink! And strawberry and chocolate is suchhh a good combo!
I don't know what I would do if I didn't live super close to all my favorite stores! We got lucky when we moved from DC to NC - I can still get to everything pretty fast!
Alyssa says
Thanks girl! We're hardly out in the middle of nowhere, but we just seem to have bad luck in that we're awkwardly equidistant from all the stores. Probably better for my wallet that way though! 🙂
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel says
Ahhh so jealous!! I loooove San Diego!! Glad you had fun. These macaroons sound so, so good. I love that they're pink, too. So fun!!
Alyssa says
San Diego is wonderful for sure! Thanks Jess! 🙂