These Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons are moist and chewy and so easy to make.

Coconut Macaroons, not to be confused with French macarons, are a mixture of shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and egg whites.

Unlike the French macaron, these macaroons are simple and unfussy. I didn't even have to sit by the oven and stare in the window watching them bake. While there are egg whites whipped into stiff peaks, it's no big deal if they are a little under whipped. Basically, you just dump everything, including the whipped egg whites into a bowl, give it a few folds, scoop them out, and bake.

On the other hand, French macarons are a delicate sandwich cookies made from sugar and egg whites whipped to an exact stiffness and then carefully folded into an almond and sugar mixture. If you mess up one of the steps, if a speck of oil gets into your egg whites, if the weather is too humid, or if the stars are not perfectly aligned, you are greeted with cracked and broken shells. This, after what seems like hours of work, not to mention the waste of expensive ingredients...

Fortunately, macarOOns are pretty foolproof.

If you're a fan of Mounds candy bars, these cookies will make you very happy. For another great coconut dessert recipe, try these Brazilian coconut bars.

I used a tablespoon (size 30) cookie scoop to portion these cookies onto the baking sheets. I like that it helps keep the cookies evenly portioned. If you don't have one, you can use a large soup spoon to scoop out the mixture and neaten the cookies up with your fingers.

This month, the Creative Cookie Exchange baking group is making gluten free cookies. This is a great recipe for a cookie that is naturally gluten free (I didn't want to buy any more ingredients I'd rarely use). After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the links to gluten free cookie recipes.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients

• 1 14 ounce bag shredded sweetened coconut
• 7/8 cups (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F with two racks in the upper and lower middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place the coconut in a medium bowl. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and the vanilla.
3. Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and salt in a medium bowl until you have stiff peaks. Fold them into the coconut mixture with a rubber spatula.
4. Using a #30 cookie scoop or a soup spoon, scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheets, 12 per sheet, evenly spaced apart.
5. Bake the cookies for 23 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back. The edges should be golden brown.
6. Remove the pans from the oven and let the cookies cool on the pans for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
7. Melt the chocolate in the microwave (on medium) 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until the chocolate is melted. Dip the cooled cookies in the chocolate and place them back on the parchment lined baking sheets. Chill briefly in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate. Store in a sealed container at room temperature. They will stay fresh for about 5 days.

Yield: 24 cookies

Recipe adapted from Once Upon a Chef

Gluten free cookie recipes are a great idea to have on hand since you never know when you will encounter someone with a gluten allergy--and believe it or not there are tons of delicious gluten free cookies out there! Keep reading to discover the ones we’ve made this month. You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

If you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

• Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Flourless chocolate cookies from Flours & Frostings
• Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cream and Butter Blog
• Fudge Cookie Bites from What Smells So Good?
• Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies from The Spiced Life
• Hazelnut Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles from 2 Cookin Mamas