bettysoo's stevia macaroons

Since so many have asked me for the recipe for my reduced sugar macaroons. I originally posted it on Facebook, but I have tweaked the recipe some since then. Here it is:

BETTYSOO'S STEVIA MACAROONS

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites (at room temp)

pinch of cream of tartar

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons of butter (melted and cooled)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1 tsp to 1/4 cup raw stevia (depends how sweet you like it. I admit I like them SWEET!)

about 75 semisweet or extra dark chocolate chips (sorry, I don't know how many oz)

1. Heat your oven to 350F, with a rack set in the middle.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (I use a Silpat mat).

3. Beat the egg whites until frothy (I do this in a Kitchen-Aid. You can use an electric mixer...or if you have the forearms of Popeye, you can do this by hand. I cannot do this by hand.), then add the cream of tartar. Continue to beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

4. Mix in the coconut oil, butter, stevia, and water. (Remove the bowl from the mixer after this, if you're using a stand mixer)

5. Gently fold in the coconut - you might want to do half at a time. Don't worry if the egg whites deflate some. 

6. Spoon the batter onto your prepared cookie sheet. The batter should make little mounds about 1/2" to 3/4" thick. If it's really thin and looks too runny, put it back in the batch and add more coconut.

7. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. 

8. While baking, set out your chocolate chips so they are easy to pick individual ones up. When you remove the tray from the oven, immediately transfer the macaroons to a wire cooling rack, then place 3 chocolate chips on top of each macaroon. By the time you have set the chocolate chips on the last macaroon, the first ones, while they may not look melted, will be melted. Drag a fork across the chocolate chips to spread the chocolate, so it looks drizzled. (This is much less messy than melted chocolate and drizzling it onto each cookie, and you can control how much sugar you are eating per serving!