These delicious very easy, fresh coconut macaroons are both gluten and dairy free, great for little kids and adults too. Join my son and I on our coconut inspired recipe adventure and see how this humble coconut ended up feeding us and the birds!
On our weekly visit to the local fruit and veg shop, my son exclaims, ‘What is that hairy ball?’ I laughed and handed him a coconut. How amazing to see something new for the first time! The coconut was now the best thing ever and was in the trolley coming home with us and so started our first recipe adventure.
Pin this Easy, Fresh Coconut Macaroon Recipe for Later
Lets Go on a Recipe Adventure
This recipe was one of our planned recipe adventures. This means we that we firstly spend some time exploring one of the main ingredients in the recipe. Then we prepare and make the recipe, led by my son wherever possible. We also focus on the sharing and the celebrating of the food. Finally its nice to tie the recipe adventure up and enjoy some play related to our theme.
Explore a yummy ingredient!
So as I mentioned our Recipe Adventure began when we spotted a coconut in our local veggie shop. The fruit and veg shop or farmers markets are great places to visit with your children and get inspired for a recipe adventure. With so many colours, smells and textures let children choose something new to try or find a colour that they love. You can then see what imaginative recipes and play can be inspired by that ingredient.
How to explore? Use your 5 senses
To begin with we used our 5 senses to mindfully explore the coconut. What it felt like, looked like, smelt like, sounded like and tasted like. The sound was an interesting one as you could hear the coconut water sloshing about inside. {Get our free mindful eating cards – Hungry Caterpillar fruit platter}
Then once we had drained it, my son’s absolute favourite bit was smashing it on the concrete ground with a thump, cracking it in half. Taste was another nice sense to explore, as we got to drink the coconut water and then sample some of the coconut flesh inside. This activity is a great way for kids to pay attention and notice what they are eating.
Benefits of children using their senses?
When children use their senses they are becoming mindfully aware of what they are focusing their attention on. They are in the moment and experiencing an opportunity for calm. As they practice more and more, bringing their senses and attention to all the pleasant things in their lives they can rewire their brains to notice these positive experiences. As adults we have a tendency to be rushing around noticing what’s not going so well, so lets slow down and savour with our children and take in the good.
To a preschooler that might be shaking a coconut!
Thank the Farmer
In this activity we thought about where the coconut had come from and talked about how it might of gotten all the way to the fruit and veg shop here in New Zealand. My son wasn’t sure how coconuts grew, so I showed him a palm tree and how they look a bit similar to some of the trees we have here. This activity is a way to appreciate all the effort and time it takes to get your food to the table.
Prepare
We’re coco – nuts about macaroons!
The next day we decided to make coconut macaroons. We are a big fan of the yummy. chewy treats. Making them gluten and dairy free meant Dad could eat them too. The added coconut sugar also gave them a lovey caramel taste.
The thing that I did do in advance were cut the coconut out of the shell and grate it, as this was a little tricky and I didn’t want to have to be wrestling with a coconut while my son was ready to get cooking.
The recipe is below, you can print it out with the pictures, which is I think is nice for kids to have with them when they are cooking. Watch out for the drizzling of the chocolate it got pretty messy, I ended up with some across my face. {Check out our Rainbow Bagel recipe and free recipe cards}
The Best Fresh Coconut Macaroons {Gluten and Dairy Free}
Equipment
- Grater
- Spoon
- Bowls
- Mini muffin tray
- Grease proof paper
Ingredients
- 500 Grams Fresh Coconut
- ⅓ Cup Coconut Sugar
- 1 Large Egg White
- ¼ Cup Gluten Free Plain Flour You can use ordinary flour
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Paste
- 1 Splash Milk If mixture needs it to bind, we used soy milk.
- ¼ Cup Dairy Free Chocolate Chips You can use ordinary chocolate chips
Instructions
- You will need to drain the coconut, then open it. We smashed it on the floor outside and it cracked open in half. Then I cut coconut flesh out of the coconut shell. I used a small knife and cut out small sections.
- Use a grater and grate 500g of fresh coconut.
- Add the sugar, flour, egg white and vanilla paste and mix. If the mixture seems a bit dry add a splash of milk.
- Pop the mixture into a mini muffin tray or on a lined tray (the mixture should make 12 small macaroons). Bake for 10 -12 minutes on 180°.
- Let the macaroons cool.
- Once cool you can melt a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. I just popped chocolate in microwave for 60 seconds, mixing every 10 seconds.
- Dip the macaroons in the chocolate. Place them on a piece of greaseproof paper and drizzle any remaining chocolate on top.
- Pop in the fridge for 15 – 30 minutes to let the chocolate harden.
Share
An important part of having a Recipe Adventure is sharing the food we make and because we made the recipe gluten and dairy free it meant that we could share the Macaroons with Daddy too! My little boy was very proud sharing his creations with his Dad.
Mindful Eating with Kids
Making the coconut macaroons was nice as it really slowed us down and we could really appreciate the food we had prepared. There were also lots of opportunities to take some mindful bites, the melted chocolate bowl got licked and it was so delicious.
Taking a mindful bite is an easy way to practice mindfulness in a fun way with your kids. Before you take a mouthful of your food, make sure you use your 5 senses to explore what you are about to eat. Use your sense of taste last and you’ll hopefully be pleasantly surprised on how good it tastes, or you may even notice something you don’t like and that’s ok too.
Play
Coconut Bird Feeder
The play part of our recipe adventure is an opportunity to continue the fun and connection. We decided on a lovely kindness craft, making a coconut bird feeder with the leftover coconut shell.
See the Instagram post with more details here
I hope you enjoyed our Coconut Macaroon Recipe Adventure. Whether you simply made the recipe and enjoyed the creativity that it allowed or tried one of the other activities too, it would be lovely to see what you got up to. Give us a tag on Instagram at @calmahoykids.
If you would like to try out another easy, fun recipe check out our Rainbow Bagel activity and free recipe cards.
Take Care – Emma 🙂
10 Halloween Mindful Movement Ideas for Kids
These fun-filled Halloween mindful movement ideas for kids are a great way to introduce Halloween themed mindul movement games to children.
How to do The Rose, Thorn and Bud Check in + Free Printable
The Rose, Thorn, and Bud check is a great way to help kids express their emotions and talk about their feelings.
Sunny Morning Affirmations for Kids
These sunny morning affirmations for kids are great way to support your child to Rise and Shine! By Starting the day with affirmations children can practice a positive mindset. As a parent we all know how better life is when we have a good morning! Positive affirmations are one way to give our kids a…
2 thoughts on “Easy Fresh Coconut Macaroons {Gluten and Dairy Free}”