Healthy Dark Chocolate Macaroons

These dark chocolate macaroons are quick and simple to make and contain no added sugar, so are a perfect healthy snack for you and your family.

More and more research is telling us of the benefits of including coconut in our diets. Coconut is high in healthy fats and free of unhealthy trans-fats. It contains a lot of important nutrients, such as fibre, manganese, copper and selenium, and is thought to help prevent a number of health conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants, as well as iron and calcium. It is thought to be a natural anti-depressant and, because of its strong flavour, you can use much less than traditional milk chocolate.

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Macaroons should be slightly browned when removed from the oven

Ingredients

• 140g dessicated coconut
• 3 large egg whites
• 3 tbsp xylitol
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp of cornflour
• 35g dark chocolate

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Melt the dark chocolate over a saucepan of boiling water

Method

1. In a large glass bowl, add together the coconut, egg whites, xylotol, lemon juice and cornflour.
2. Mix well until you achieve a thick, sticky consistency (it may help to kneed the mixture with your hands to get the dried coconut really wet so that it will hold together).
3. Use your hands to roll the mixture into small balls. Make sure you squeeze each ball tightly to stop it falling apart in the oven. Now place the balls on a lined baking tray.

4. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4 and bake the coconut balls for 10 minutes, before reducing the heat to 150°C/300°F/Gas mark 2 and baking for a further 5 minutes.

5. While the coconut balls are in the oven, place a small glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and gently melt the dark chocolate. Once melted, remove from the heat.

6. Remove macaroons from the oven as soon as baking time is complete and transfer to a cooling rack, if you have one. Use a teaspoon to drizzle the melted chocolate over the top. If you prefer a more intense taste, you may want to dip the macaroons into the chocolate.

7.  Place the chocolate macaroons into the fridge until the chocolate hardens.

8. Either serve immediately, or store in an airtight container to preserve the freshness.

You can drizzle the chocolate or dip the macaroons for a more intense taste