These vegan macaroons are so simple together, taste great. If you’re avoiding eggs and dairy for any reason, here’s your ticket to enjoying traditional beloved cookie recipe without a lot of effort.
Bonus–since I almost always bake low-carb, the recipe doubles as a keto macaroon recipe too.
For some reason I have always had a thing for these little mounds of coconut.
Since my son’s diagnosis with a life-threatening allergy to egg, my heart always ached whenever I saw a macaroon recipe.
Food allergies are such a problem that way.
The allergy sufferer feels left out, but moms of kids with food allergies feel suffer as well.
Not only is it hard to make foods that taste great and are free of the offending food, but it’s also hard to see recipes that are almost entirely impossible to recreate and you know that your child will never be able to try them.
Happily Discovering Vegan Coconut Macaroons
So finding this recipe was a real treat in many ways.
Cause coconut macaroons are almost ALWAYS made with egg, and I couldn’t share the deliciousness with him.
I tried once or twice to make an egg-free version, but the resulting cookie fell apart much too easily.
So when I saw a recipe for Vegan Coconut Macaroons just before Easter, my face lit up with a smile, I pulled the ingredients together and gave them a whirl.
Surprisingly, they held together pretty well and taste great too.
I adapted a recipe by Recipes Reinvented, made them with a low carb option, and we now have another dessert success in our coconut-loving home.
These taste great plain (the vanilla version) and are fabulous with the cocoa (or carob) added.
You could really do loads of variations – think peppermint, berry…..even perhaps pumpkin!
You could even dip these in chocolate (like my Homemade Chocolate Chips, melted) for a truly lovely dessert.
These vegan coconut macaroons have just the right touch of sweetness and hold together pretty well for not having eggs in them.
And like everything else, when you make it yourself, you really can save a ton of money.
So, I looked up the price of vegan coconut macaroons online and they were $7 per pound. These cost – maybe $1.50 per pound :-).
I always feel a great sense of accomplishment when I can make something delicious for my family — and then I see the same thing in a store or online that costs a small fortune.
Just ask my husband – I get this silly grin on my face when I show him the price tag of the overpriced version.
My kids are now in on the “game” too.
Happy Mom — Happy Sons — Happy Budget.
Enjoy!
More Special-Diet Friendly Desserts:
– Homemade “Almond Joy” Bars
– Healthier “Reese’s” Candy
– Homemade Chocolate / Carob Chips
– Homemade “Jello”
– Soft Pumpkin Cookies (these taste like Enjoy Life Allergy-Free Cookies [we think so, at least])
Recipe Notes
- Rice milk or almond milk would work as well as coconut milk, but coconut milk is thicker and will result in a better finished product. See Easiest Coconut Milk for a homemade option.
- See my post on Gluten-Free Baking Tips for help with gluten-free flour – I used a mix of sweet brown rice and millet. Sweet rice adds a bit of “stickiness” to your gluten-free baked goods. Use organic almond flour if grain free. This also makes this recipe an “S” on the Trim Healthy Mama plan. Substitute 1/2 Tbsp organic coconut flour for AIP.
- You can use organic carob powder instead of cocoa for AIP.
- If making the chocolatey version, use 4 Tbsp of either cocoa/carob for the whole batch. Use 2 Tbsp if you split the batch in half and make half vanilla and half chocolatey.
- Sweetener: If you’d prefer to use a different sweetener, you can use 1/16 tsp stevia extract, or 5 1/3 Tbsp erythritol for low carb, or 4 Tbsp coconut sugar for AIP. If you would like to substitute in a liquid sweetener, see this post on how to substitute sweeteners. If using regular sugar, use 4 Tbsp.
Egg-Free Coconut Macaroons
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 4 Tbsp low carb sweetener (see notes for alternatives)
- 2 Tbsp gluten-free flour (use low-carb alternative if needed. See notes)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- cocoa powder (for the chocolatey version)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or prepare by greasing. (I use baking stones that require no pre-treating)
- In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the coconut milk, sweetener, and salt.
- Add flour and stir completely
- Heat the mixture to a full boil and simmer for about two minutes or until thickened (if making chocolate version, add 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder to the mixture)
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and coconut.
- Drop mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet. I used a cookie scoop to make things quick and less messy (and it makes nicely shaped macaroons, too :-)!)
- Bake for about 16 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.
Do you have a recipe that needs a makeover for health or allergy reasons?
Let me know!
Wow! I first saw an egg free macaroon recipe in a vintage WW2 era cookbook designed to reduce our homefront use of important food products needed to fuel Americas war efforts. Thanks for the trip back through my Grandmother’s kitchen.
Neato!
Can you use honey in place of the other sweeteners?
Yes, almost always. Check out this post: https://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/baking-with-honey-sugar-for-baking/
Just tried this recipe with honey! Worked wonderfully, though I only used 4 tsp as all I have is organic wildflower honey and so the flavour is quite strong.
Thanks for the recipe 🙂 My food-sensitive coworkers will be so surprised!
Sounds great!
Hi, Adrienne, do you think I could use honey as the sweetener in these? I have never used stevia extract…and prefer not to use granulated sugar. Wondering what you think!? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Yes, it should work just fine. Just use the measurements as written. Hope you enjoy them!
Yum!! Would love if if you linked up on my blog hop http://www.w-t-fab.com/search/label/bloghop. Also let me know if you’d like to follow each other!
Isn’t it so great when you find a recipe to benefit an allergy? I have to be dairy free and LOVE it when I am able to find something or tweak a loved recipe to work for me! Thank you for sharing! We’re neighbors at Growing Home today 😉 Blessings! simplyhelpinghim.com
No. . . I have not tried them. Didn’t even think about them as a possibility, especially with how much I enjoy the Homemade Chocolate Bar. The chips would be easier to make – no need for almond butter. I have no experience with cocoa butter. Thanks for the heads-up.
I think you’ll really like the chips. They sometimes hold together in cookies and such – sometimes they don’t. But they’re good. I hope to have the new recipe out soon.
Had one this morning for breakfast (lucky me), and it was great. I used maple syrup and agave for the sweetners, almond milk instead of coconut milk (but did add some coconut milk tailings I had in the freezer), flattened them out a bit, and baked them longer. The chocolate exploded on me a bit, so the topping was a bit grainy. However, it did nothing to take away from their deliciousness. . .
The chocolate can be funny sometimes. I am going to repost the chocolate chips. Have you tried them? I am thinking to make them w/ cocoa butter next time to make them more stable and I have revised the recipe :).
Going to make ’em, and then generously drizzle some of your Homemade Chocolate Bar https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/homemade-chocolate-or-carob-bar/ on top. Might play with almond milk as an alternative. . . Thanks again Adrienne.
What a great idea!!! Almond milk as an alternative to….. You are so welcome. You are always so kind.
I want to avoid using Stevia.
I would just use whatever you are OK with. You can use anything really – the directions show that you can use granulated or liquid. There is some info there about subbing the sweeteners and you can also see my post on substituting sweeteners.
can you tweek the macaroon recipe so that it doesn’t use sugar or sugar substitute?
Linda, – I’m not sure how to answer you – do you mean that you don’t want sweet macaroons? Or are you just looking to avoid certain sweeteners? ~Adrienne
I love macaroons, too. I’ll bet these are really delicious with the addition of the coconut milk. They’re beautiful. Thanks for sharing on Sweet Indulgences Sunday.
This is wonderful. Is the texture different from egg white macaroons? I have to try this for my husband. Thanks for sharing it with us and at Bake with Bizzy.
I am really excited about this one. It is not just another recipe.
Thanks for the compliment! I didn’t think that the texture was much different from macaroons with egg. They don’t stick together quite as well, but I think that you will like them. We certainly ate them all up! If your husband is allergic to eggs, let’s stay in touch! My oldest is so I am always baking something without eggs :-)!
thanks for your reply. your blog inspired me to make macaroons for the first time. i followed your recipe exactly and it was soft as you mentioned. so i guess, i made it right.
hi,
I tried this recipe. it turned well but it was soft in the center. is it supposed to be that way? anyways, looking forward to more healthy recipes from you.
scinia.
Did you follow the recipe exactly? I have made it a number of times and I wouldn’t call the centers “soft”. The cookie overall is soft as macaroons are supposed to be.
I am so happy to see this recipe! This was one on my list of must-try-to-invent recipes. Now I don’t have to! 🙂
you never cease to amaze me!!
Can’t wait to try it!!
blessings!
LIB
You are too kind!
Yum! I always wondered how one would make macaroons without eggs, but now I know!
This recipe look great! Thanks for posting it!
Oh wow!!! I have a grand multitude of food allergies and I simply can’t tell you how excited I was to find your blog the other day!! This is a treat I can actually eat without changing a million ingredients! Thanks SO much!! 🙂 I’m now your biggest fan!! lol!
I know how you feel. I try to make all of my recipes helpful to those with typical allergies. I can’t promise, but if there is something else I can help with, please let me know! Thanks for the compliment :-).
Oh, YUM!!! We love coconut here, too! 🙂