It hasn’t been too harsh a winter here but we did get about 4″ of snow the other day. I’m definitely not a huge fan of cold and am counting the days until spring but I have to admit it does look pretty just after a snowfall.
My little tree in front reminded me of macaroon trees that Niki and I made for Christmas from a Martha Stewart recipe. I did a double take reading that recipe because it had just a few ingredients and only a couple of steps to make. What? A Martha recipe that doesn’t go on for 3 pages AND can be done in less than 8 hours? But it’s true, this mixture can be done in a flash and then you can just play making little macaroon trees. I’m not going to tell you which ones I made and which Niki made, but the person who was drinking the most wine made the blobs that look more like shrubs than little pine trees….
macaroon trees before cooking & with too much vanilla
I was also ready to argue with Martha over her suggestion for the amount of vanilla extract to use – she said 5 TEAspoons – and my mixture was really wet. Now that I’m writing this I can actually picture the TABLEspoon in my hand but I’m not positive (could have something to do with wine) so my suggestion is to dump the coconut in & try teaspoons, then add more if it’s not wet enough to hold together. Too much vanilla could also be why my trees are dark brown. But after you bake them, you sprinkle with powdered sugar & look how cute these are…Fun to make with kids of all ages…should be 21 or older for the wine.
Sugar Dusted Macaroon Trees
2 1/2 Cups shredded coconut
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 Egg whites, slightly beaten
5 TEAspoons vanilla (that’s what Martha says)
Pinch of salt
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
– Preheat oven to 350°. Combine coconut, granulated sugar, egg whites, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Use about 2 tablespoons of mixture to form 2″ high trees. Bake until edges are golden and trees are firm – about 12 to 14 minutes. After cooling, dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Photographs and recipes 
Awwww that’s adorable, I would totally devour them in a minute 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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They made my sweet tooth very happy!
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I think your trees are just perfect!
I am also not one for the cold – not sure I could cope with your very cold weather – our winters are much milder and even they are too cold for me.
Have a beautiful weekend.
🙂 Mandy
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Thank you, they weren’t all perfect like Martha’s but we had fun making them.
Usually it’s not so bad during a snow storm, it’s after when the bitter winds get ya.
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These are too cute : )) Hey we have snow here as well, again! Just in time for our snowboard trip.
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You too? Well at least you have something fun to do it in. I used to ski but never tried snowboarding.
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Oh me neither, I was limited to sledge (?) but it is time for something new 🙂
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This recipe must have been from Martha’s days in the Big House, in between shifts on the rock pile. She didn’t have time for one of her normal recipes and threw these together. No matter. They’re actually cute and even I, who’s baking challenged, could make them. Thanks, Diane, for sharing the recipe.
By the way, if you could send a little of that snow, it would be appreciated. We still haven’t had any.
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Hahaha! I think you’ve got it. Maybe they only allowed her 1 tiny piece of paper to write on. The trees were fun to make as long as you don’t mind sticky hands, but I thought they were cute.
You can have our snow but please, oh please take the cold with it too – it’s got to be a package deal.
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These look lovely. Can I dip them in chocolate please? Cuz, coconut and choc are my fav.. think almond joy or mounds. I’m getting a kick out of tiny presents and the choo choo train. Perfect.
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Oh yes! Dipped in chocolate – Judy you’ve got it and that would be sooo good. Next time & thanks for noticing my little train & presents…little what-nots that I’ve collected for my egg shell ornaments.
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I meant to mention the cute little presents and train. Such a nice touch to the plate!
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I remembered that I had some little minatures that I use for making my egg shell ornaments so figured I’d make it a little festive.
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Coconut isn’t my thing, but these sure are cute! Surely you didn’t use a tablespoon to measure! That would be over 1/4 cup of vanilla which would have seriously lowered the level in your bottle (the vanilla, not the wine). Next time do all the measuring before you break out the corkscrew! 🙂
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Yes I think I did use the tablespoon but it was probably more that I didn’t have my cheater glasses on rather than the wine. I think the print in magazines just keeps getting smaller & smaller.
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Wow, that is a lot of vanilla! I bet they were tasty, though!
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Oh it was a big load of vanilla but I just dumped more coconut in so it all worked out. It’s one of those recipes that doesn’t need exact measurements I don’t think.
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You so make me laugh…and I”m laughing at you from the desert, where they hardly get rain much less snow…although they do have a ski slope and lift inside the Dubai Mall…if I go, I’ll send you photos. So, are you sure the wine was the issue? Maybe you did not drink enough??? LOL!
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Oh please send me some desert air! I’ve heard of that ski slope – definitely send a photo of that if you get to see it. I’ve heard it’s incredible in that mall.
I’m thinking it was more not having my reading glasses on, doing about 4 things at the same time while chatting that was the problem. Not enough wine?…I’ll do better next time.
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Such a cute idea!
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Thank you & they were so good too. I love coconut & my friend Judy (above) suggested dipping in chocolate which I think is a fine idea.
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Well I mean, you can’t go wrong with adding chocolate to almost anything, right? 🙂
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I’m with you but isn’t that a great idea? I guess they wouldn’t look very much like snow coated Christmas trees, but hey who would care?
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These are so pretty and yummy-looking, and I love the fact that your beautiful snow-dusted real trees inspired them.
And you know, I recently made a recipe and realized I’d been using my 1/3 cup measure instead of the 1/4 cup measure halfway though. Then I did the same thing the next day. I’m glad to hear that I’m not alone in these little kitchen mishaps, though I don’t even have the wine excuse!
Thanks for another great post!
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I find inspiration everywhere! Funny how you have these little bloopers though & you don’t realize it until after but in this case I could actually visualize my hand holding the tablespoon & once I put my glasses on to write up the recipe…well let’s say things became much more clear w/the glasses on.
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Your trees look just like the ones outside! How cute and delicious. You are so right about Marthas recipes, my goodness can she get any more complicated? Once in my early years I decided to make one of her gingerbread house creations and had to take a day off work to finish it. Take care, BAM
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That gingerbread house creation sounds like one of her frozen creme fruit dessert I decided to make. Total for just the ingredients that I didn’t have = $28. Then, since I never manage to read the entire recipe until it’s too late, I saw that the prep time was 18 hours! You could say that Martha’s a little out of touch AND out of control. Of course it would be silly to even think that she’s making these things herself.
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Those are either very big macaroon trees or very small presents. Can’t decide which….
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Must be the wine… nah – small presents but as we all know, big things come in small packages.
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Bushes or trees…they look and sound great.
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Thank you & I guess it’s all a matter of the artist’s interpretation. Sort of like a Rorschach test.
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How awesomely adorable! Once of my favorites, too. I’m a huge fan of coconut. Yum!
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Thank you for you very nice comment.
We love coconut here & believe me if you have a sweet tooth, these will take care of it for sure.
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What a great idea! I love how you added the cute little presents stacked around the sugar macaroon trees. They add a touch of magic to the photo that I thought was so adorable. My mom used to make coconut macaroons a lot when I was young, but I never thought they looked like trees, until I saw your photo. nice work. 🙂
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Why thank you very much. My favorite part (other than eating them) was how easy they were to make. A little messy, but it was fun & I think it would a great thing to do with young kids.
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