A Different Kind of Week......

Good morning, everyone!!!! How was your weekend? Mine was good, but a little bit sad at the same time. My parents left (really, really early) this morning for the mission conference held at the "home base" for our mission agency here in Brazil. They'll be gone until Sunday,  so my sister and I will definitely miss them a LOT! We do have a friend staying with us, who we actually hadn't seen in a while,  so we're pretty excited to get to hang out with her some this week!

The poor cats are really confused....mom and dad left early, plus there is someone they have never seen before staying here. They are both super cuddly right now too....especially Katsa. She's "helping" me blog as we speak! :D Isn't she cute?

In other news, I made cookies this weekend!!!! They're cute and bite-sized and everything! :D Here's the recipe:
Chocolate Coconut Macaroon Cookie Sandwiches 
makes 15

Ingredients:
Cookies:

• 60 grams powdered sugar
• 30 grams dried coconut 
• 1 egg white
• 20 grams granulated sugar

Filling: (you'll only use about half of this filling, but it is really tasty so I'm giving you the full recipe :D)

• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 oz chocolate, finely chopped (or sub 6 T cocoa +3 T oil)
• 1-4 tablespoons sugar (depending on personal preference) 
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

Directions:

1. Toast the coconut in the microwave by first microwaving on high for about a minute, stirring and microwaving in 30 second increments until done. 
2. Sift together the powdered sugar and the coconut into a small-medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat the egg white in your mixer until foamy. Keep beating while slowly adding the granulated sugar to the white. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. 
4. Fold about 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the coconut mixture. Keep folding in the rest of the egg white mixture until everything is combined. Your batter should be kind of thick but you should be able to pipe it out. 
5. Pipe out 30 1/2 in circles onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until macaroons are set. 
6. While baking, prepare the filling. Combine the cream, chocolate and sugar in a pot. Heat over medium-low until the chocolate has melted and is smooth. Stir in the butter and the vanilla. 
7. When the macaroons have cooled, gently remove from the baking sheet. Spread some of the filling on 15 of the macaroons, top with the other 15. 

So there ya have it! I love it when an experiment works out!!!! :D

I had better get studying.....see ya'll later!

Do you like experimenting in the kitchen or do you prefer to make tried and true recipes?