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An easy recipe for gluten-free coconut macaroons. These soft gluten-free coconut cookies are chewy on the inside, and crisp and golden on the outside.
Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons
Gluten-free coconut macaroons are the easiest gluten-free cookies to make! These soft and chewy coconut cookies are made in one bowl and in only a few simple steps. There is no chilling time, and the cookies are baked in only twenty minutes.
Not only are these cookies gluten-free, but these macaroons are also naturally dairy-free. The coconut cookies are also super freezer friendly.
You can see just how easy these gluten-free coconut macaroon cookies are to make in the detailed recipe steps photos or in the recipe video.
What is the difference between a coconut macaroon and a macaron cookie?
Coconut macaroons are an American cookie recipe that is made with egg whites and sweetened shredded coconut. They are sometimes also dipped in chocolate.
Macarons are a French cookie recipe that is also made with egg whites and finely ground blanched almonds. The French meringue sandwich cookies are filled with buttercream, chocolate ganache, or jam.
Ingredients In Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons
It only takes a few simple ingredients to make these gluten-free coconut macaroons. I bet you already have everything you need to make these cookies in your pantry.
- Egg Whites: Egg whites are one of the most important ingredients in these cookies. They provide structure and puffiness to these cookies.
- Granulated Sugar: Not only does the sugar sweeten the cookies, but it helps make the cookies soft and chewy.
- Pure Vanilla Extract, Pure Almond Extract, Salt: These ingredients are all for your taste buds.
- Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: The gluten-free flour is a binder for the egg whites and shredded coconut.
- Sweetened Shredded Coconut: The shredded coconut is the star ingredient. Do not make this recipe with unsweetened or reduced-fat shredded coconut; the cookie mixture will be too dry. The sugar used to sweeten the coconut helps the cookies to be soft and moist.
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chips: Dipping the coconut macaroons in melted chocolate takes these cookies to the next level.
How To Make Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are white and fluffy. I used a hand electric mixer. (photo 1)
- Stir in the sugar, pure vanilla extract, pure almond extract, and gluten-free flour into the egg whites. (photo 2)
- Stir the sweetened coconut into the egg white mixture, mixing until fully combined. (photo 3)
- Scoop out the cookie dough using a greased 1 ½ teaspoon cookie scoop spacing about 1-inch apart. Do not flatten the cookie dough balls. (photo 4)
- Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Bake for 18 minutes for super soft cookies. (photo 5)
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container.
For Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroon Cookies:
- Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds at a time, stir, and then microwave for another 15-30 seconds or until the chips are fully melted and smooth and creamy.
- Dip the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate and return to the lined baking sheets. (photo 6)
- To harden the chocolate quickly, refrigerate the cookies for about 5-10 minutes or until the chocolate is set.
All of the ingredients and full instructions for the gluten-free macaroons are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
How To Freeze Macaroon Cookies
To freeze the baked cookies:
Once the cookies are completely cooled, place them in an airtight freezer container. If stacking the cookies, place a sheet of parchment paper between the layers.
To freeze the cookie dough:
It is easy to freeze cookie dough. The best way to freeze this cookie dough is to flash freeze the cookie dough balls.
Place the macaroon cookie dough balls on a baking sheet just like you are making cookies. Then place them in the freezer to flash freeze for 10 minutes.
Once the cookies are flash-frozen (a little frozen), place the cookie dough balls into a freezer bag. Raw cookie dough can be frozen for up to six months.
You do not need to thaw the cookie dough before you bake them. You may need to bake the coconut macaroon cookies for an extra minute or two, so please watch your cookies.
Tips For Baking The Best Gluten-Free Macaroon Cookies
- For uniformed-sized cookies, I always use a greased 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop. It makes it nice and easy to get the perfect amount.
- I like using gridded parchment paper when baking cookies. It makes spacing the cookie dough easier when placing it on the baking sheet.
- I always bake my cookies on the center rack.
- You can easily bring eggs to room temperature by placing the whole eggs (not cracked) in a warm bowl of water for a few minutes.
- Save the egg yolks in an airtight container in the refrigerator and add them to your scrambled eggs or omelets.
Coconut Macaroon Nest Cookies
This coconut macaroon recipe is also perfect for making coconut macaroon nest cookies!
- Scoop out the batter using a 1 ½ tablespoon greased cookie scoop and place it on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
- Using the back of a rounded ½ teaspoon, gently push down on the centers of the cookies to make a nest (you can also just use your finger).
- Once the cookies are cooled, dip each cookie’s top into the melted chocolate chips.
- Allow the melted chocolate to dry a little before adding the gluten-free jelly beans or your gluten-free candy of choice.
- Store in an airtight container.
Gluten-Free Flour
These gluten-free coconut macaroon cookies were made with Pillsbury gluten-free flour. It is a cup-for-cup, all-purpose gluten-free rice flour blend and already has the xanthan gum and starches included.
Most gluten-free all-purpose flour blends have starches and xanthan gum already in them. The xanthan gum helps replace the elasticity and texture of gluten.
So make sure to check the ingredients of your gluten-free flour so you do not add any extra xanthan gum if it is already included in your flour. If you add extra xanthan gum, you will get gummy cookies!
My favorite gluten-free flour is Pillsbury gluten-free. Not all gluten-free flours are created equal. You may experience different baking results depending on the gluten-free flour blend you choose.
Tip For Measuring Gluten-Free Flour
It is super important to use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (not a pyrex liquid measuring cup) to measure gluten-free flour. I measure the gluten-free flour with the “spoon & level” method.
I use a large spoon to scoop the flour out of the bag into the measuring cup. Then I use the back of a knife to level off the top of the measuring cup.
Please do not scoop the flour directly out of the bag with your measuring cup. If you do, you could end up with more flour than is called for in the recipe.
Easy Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons
Gluten-free coconut macaroon cookies are so easy to make! These soft and chewy coconut cookies are made in just five easy steps with no chilling time. These gluten-free cookies also freeze well.
These gluten-free macaroons are the perfect cookies to bake for holidays like Easter or Christmas. Everyone always loves these soft gluten-free coconut cookies, especially when dipped in chocolate. I promise no one will know that they are gluten-free!
More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes To Enjoy!
- Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookies {Dairy-Free Option}
- Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Cookies {Dairy-Free & Vegan Option}
- Gluten-Free Monster Cookies {Dairy-Free Option}
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Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons
Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons gluten-free all-purpose flour with xanthan gum, I like Pillsbury gluten-free flour. Not all gluten-free flours are created equal. You may experience different baking results depending on the gluten-free flour blend you choose.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1/2 cup gluten-free chocolate chips (optional), For dairy-free use Nestle Allergen Free Semi-Sweet Morsels or Enjoy Life.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are white and fluffy. I used a hand electric mixer.
- Stir in the sugar, pure vanilla extract, pure almond extract, and gluten-free flour into the egg whites.
- Stir the sweetened coconut into the egg white mixture, mixing until fully combined.
- Scoop out the cookie dough using a greased 1 ½ teaspoon cookie scoop spacing about 1-inch apart. Do not flatten the cookie dough balls.
- Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Bake for 18 minutes for super soft cookies. Please watch your oven because all ovens are different.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Store in an air-tight container.
For chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon cookies:
- Melt ½ cup of chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds at a time, stir, then microwave for another 15-30 seconds, or until the chips are fully melted and smooth and creamy. Dip the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate and return to the lined baking sheets. To harden the chocolate quickly, refrigerate the cookies for about 5-10 minutes or until the chocolate is set.
For macaroon nest cookies:
- Scoop out the cookie batter using a 1 ½ tablespoon greased cookie scoop and place it on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Using the back of a rounded ½ teaspoon, gently push down on the centers of the cookies to make a nest (you can also just use your finger). Once the cookies are cooled, dip each top of the cookies into the melted chocolate. Allow the melted chocolate to dry a little before adding the jelly beans or your candy of choice.
Video
Notes
- I like Pillsbury gluten-free. Not all gluten-free flours are created equal. You may experience different baking results depending on the gluten-free flour blend you choose.
- The macaroon cookies are naturally dairy-free. If dipping in chocolate, for dairy-free use dairy-free chocolate chips like Nestle Allergen Free Semi-Sweet Morsels or Enjoy Life.
- You can easily bring eggs to room temperature by placing the whole eggs (not cracked) in a warm bowl of water for a few minutes.
- Mama says, "check all of your labels!"
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love these! These were a huge hit with my family for Easter. I realized that salt wasn’t included in the steps; which step do I add the salt?
These turned out fabulous and were easy to make! Big hit with my fam and friends 🙂
These were delicious and definitely easy to make. I dipped mine in chocolate but I think next time I’ll add the chocolate chips to the batter and bake that way.
Thank you so much for this recipe.
This recipe was a big hit – and so easy! I only had unsweetened coconut, so I mixed it in a bag with about a TB of powdered sugar before adding to the batter and that worked just fine. I have a feeling the rest of the batter would “bind” a little better with the sweetened coconut but they were still SO good. I did half plain and the other half dipped in chocolate as described with a little drizzled on top. If you like macaroons, DEFINITELY try this recipe!
Here I am again! I made these today! Absolutely delicious! Great recipe. Thank you, again, Audrey.
Thank you so much for the wonderful 5-star recipe review. I am so happy that you enjoyed the macaroons. You are so welcome, I love sharing the recipe I make for my family and helping others.
They look delicious and very similar to a recipe I already love except mine have no flour and resemble hay stacks. I put mini chocolate chips in them. I like your idea of dipping the bottoms in melted chocolate so may do that sometimes.