Coconut Onigiri Macaroons

It's up to you.

14 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Prepare the baking sheet and preheat the oven

   Turn the oven on at 175°C in conventional oven setting (no fan), with an oven rack in the middle. Line a large baking tray with baking paper cut to fit, keeping every edge clear of the heating element. Prepare a bowl, a spatula, a spoon and a grill; the cookies will cool down before receiving their chocolate decor.

2. Separating and Weighing Whites

   Break the eggs one by one over a small bowl and separate the white from the yolk. Pour each white into the bowl after checking that it does not contain a piece of shell, and then weigh 90 g of white in total, or about three whites. Keep the yolks in the refrigerator for another preparation; only the whites enter this paste.

3. Mix whites, sugar and vanilla

   Add 120 g of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the whites. Stir with a fork or spatula for about 1 minute, just to break the white filaments and distribute the sugar. Don’t whisk with an electric mixer: you’re not looking for firm snow, but a slightly frothy liquid mixture.

4. Incorporate the coconut

   Pour the 200 g of grated coconut into the bowl. Mix with the spatula and look for the ingredients at the bottom and on the sides, until all the coconut is moistened. The preparation looks like a thick and grainy paste; there should no longer remain a dry coconut area.

5. Let the coconut absorb the whites

   Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes at room temperature, then stir again. Press a small amount between the fingers: it must fit in a flexible block without sinking. If the mixture is still friable, press it more and wait 2 more minutes; do not add water or white not provided in the list.

6. Divide the dough into twenty portions

   Weigh the mixture or divide it first into four visually equal parts, then each into five small portions. You get about 21 g per cookie; adjust the last servings to use all the dough. Place them on the plate before modeling them, which allows you to compare their size and prevent the smaller ones from cooking too fast.

7. Shape shapes with wet fingers

   Moisturizes the fingers very slightly and presses each portion in a thick triangle, with rounded corners, about 4 cm wide and 2 cm high. Give it a wide base that rests directly on the plate and a fairly flat front for the chocolate rectangle. Space the 20 pieces of 3 cm and keeps the grain of the coconut visible.

8. Cook until golden base

   Bake for 12 to 15 minutes and watch the biscuits from 12 minutes. The tips and base should be slightly golden, while the sides remain lighter; the mixture should be taken and no longer look wet. Turn the baking tray if your oven is coloring one side more, quickly closing the door.

9. Allow to harden before moving

   Take out the plate with oven gloves and leave the clusters on for 10 minutes. Then slide a flat spatula under each to drop it on a wire rack: pulling on the hot top could detach it. Wait another 20 to 30 minutes, until fully cooled; chocolate should be placed on cold, dry cookies.

10. Preparing the chocolate rectangles

    Chop the 100 g of dark chocolate and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan, heat until it simmers and then lower the heat. Set the bowl over the pan without letting it touch the water. Stir with a spatula and remove as soon as the last pieces melt. Wipe the bottom of the bowl: no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Take about 15 g in a small bowl to glue the rectangles and keeps the remaining 85 g to form them. On a sheet of paper, draw 20 rectangles of 3 x 2 cm and then return the sheet: the chocolate must not touch the pencil.

11. Spread the twenty strips of seaweed

    Put the paper on a flat board. Place a little chocolate in the center of each rectangle and spread it with the back of a small spoon to the contours, about 2 mm thick. Spread the 85 g between the 20 shapes; keeps edges simple and slightly irregular, without looking for a very thin sheet that would break on takeoff.

12. Let the rectangles take hold and then peel off

    Let the chocolate harden for about 20 to 30 minutes in a cool room. Then gently fold the paper under each rectangle to release it, supporting it with a spatula; does not bend the chocolate itself. If a rectangle breaks, melt it again and reform it with the remaining chocolate rather than stacking the pieces on a cookie.

13. Paste a rectangle on each coconut triangle

    Re-melt very briefly the 15 g of chocolate reserved if necessary. Place a small drop on the back of a rectangle and place it on the bottom of the front face of a coconut triangle; press 5 seconds without crushing the coconut clusters. Repeat for 20 pieces, keeping the top part and sides of coconut fully visible.

14. Allow to be taken and served

    Let the collage take at least 20 minutes before moving the cookies. Presents each triangle placed on its wide base, like a small onigiri, without making it fit on a tip. The coconut evokes rice and the only chocolate rectangle evokes seaweed; serve any chocolate remaining separately after hardening on paper.