Vegan Coconut Macaroons

Vegans follow a diet that excludes all animal products, including milk, butter and eggs. Thus, they can't often enjoy baked goods such as macaroons unless they are made with substitute ingredients. Conventional coconut macaroons get their fluffiness from beaten egg whites and much of their taste from sweetened condensed milk or refined white sugar. To make the cookies vegan, however, it's necessary to use alternate bases and experiment with different recipes.

Ingredients

Strict vegans need to be vigilant about the ingredients they use in recipes and the way those ingredients are processed. In some cases, animal components may be involved in food items that appear at first glance to be completely vegan. For example, some brands of white granulated sugar are filtered, bleached and processed with traces of animals' charred bones. Thus, vegans may want to seek out unbleached sugar or less processed forms of sugar to use in macaroons. Susan O'Brien, author of "The Gluten-Free Vegan," recommends alternatives such as honey, brown rice syrup, agave nectar or cane juice.

Substitutions

Suitable milk substitutes for macaroons include soy milk, almond milk, rice milk or hemp milk. For enhanced coconut flavor, vegan bakers may want to use coconut milk, although it's worthwhile to consider reduced-fat versions because full-fat coconut milk has many calories and fat grams per serving. PETA suggests a number of vegan egg substitutes that may work in macaroons, including potato starch, pureed tofu, arrowroot, canned squash, agar agar and a water-flax seed mixture.

Recipe

For simple vegan coconut macaroons, gather two cups sweetened shredded coconut, one cup reduced-fat coconut milk, two tablespoons agave nectar, two tablespoons all-purpose flour, one teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and coat a baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray. Whisk together the coconut milk, agave nectar and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk thoroughly. Heat the mixture to a full boil, and continue to boil for about two minutes or until it has thickened. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and coconut. Drop the mixture by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet, and bake the macaroons for 16 minutes, or until golden brown.

Variations

Macaroons are delicious on their own as a sweet snack or light dessert, and they offer a refreshing coconut flavor and pleasing, nutty texture. To add variety to a recipe, mix melted vegan chocolate, cacao nibs or cocoa powder into the batter before baking the cookies, or drizzle melted chocolate on top. Using almond extract or doubling the vanilla extract in a recipe can also enhance the taste.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan coconut macaroons may have fewer calories and less fat and sugar than traditional macaroons and other cookies, but it's not fair to consider them a health food. However, they can certainly fit into a healthy diet when enjoyed in moderation. Calculate the nutrition facts for any version of vegan macaroons by adding up the calorie, fat and sugar contents of each ingredient and dividing those totals by the number of cookies that the recipe produces.