Coconut Nest Cookies
Submitted by happyzhangbo
Coconut meringue cookies shaped into little bird nests and filled with candy eggs or jelly beans. A show-stopping Easter dessert that’s crisp, light as air, and gluten-free. Makes 20 nests.
YIELD
20 servingsPREP
8 minCOOK
1 1/6 hrsREADY
3⅓ hrsEaster baking doesn’t get much cuter than this. Coconut meringue piped into little nest shapes, slow-baked until crisp, then filled with candy eggs or jelly beans.
The base is a classic meringue whipped to glossy, billowy peaks, with shredded coconut folded through for texture and a splash of dark rum (or vanilla) for depth. Mound them onto parchment, press a little hollow in the center, and let a low oven do the work.
They bake for an hour, then dry in the turned-off oven for two more hours until they’re crisp all the way through. The result is something that looks like a spring centerpiece but crunches apart into sweet, airy shards with every bite.
Kitchen Tips
- Draw circles on the parchment as guides, then flip the paper over. You’ll see the lines through the paper without the pencil touching your cookies.
- Add sugar gradually and beat until completely dissolved. Rub a bit between your fingers; if it feels gritty, keep beating.
- Don’t open the oven during the drying phase. The residual heat is doing the real work of crisping the meringue through.
- Fill the nests with candy just before serving. Adding them too early can cause the sugar coating on the candy to bleed color onto the white meringue.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut two pieces of cooking parchment to fit two 10- by 15-inch baking sheets.
With a pencil, draw 10 evenly spaced 2-inch circles on each piece of parchment.
Place each, marked side down, on a baking sheet.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, with a hand-held mixer or the standing mixer’s whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed until foamy.
Add salt and beat until stiff peaks form, 2 to 4 minutes.
Gradually add sugar, beating mixture until sugar has dissolved completely (rub a little between your fingers to check; if it feels gritty, sugar is not dissolved) and mixture is glossy, thick, and very billowy, 2 to 5 minutes.
Beat in rum, then gently fold in coconut.
Mound mixture in 3- to 4-tablespoon portions in marked circles. Using a spoon, make a shallow depression in the center of each so it resembles a nest.
Bake cookies in a 250° regular oven (convection not recommended) until light golden, about 1 hour, switching pan positions halfway through baking.
Turn oven off, leaving cookies inside, and let stand until dry and firm to the touch, about 2 hours longer.
Remove from oven and let cool completely on sheets, then peel off parchment.
Set candies or jelly beans in each nest.
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