Macaroons are a delicious cookie year-round. The originals were invented by Italian monks from ground almonds. The name derives from the Italian maccherone.

Italian Jews adopted the cookie for eight-day observation of Passover, because it was free of restricted ingredients like flour and leavening.

The macaroon was introduced to other European Jews and became popular as a year-round sweet. Over time, coconut was added to the ground almonds and, in certain recipes, replaced them.

Macaroons arrived in France in 1533 with the pastry chefs of Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henri II.

But the French macaron, a meringue sandwich, was centuries away.

The concept was invented by Pierre Desfontaines Ladurée, who, at the beginning of the 20th century, had the idea to join two meringues and fill them with ganache.

Here’s more history of macaroons and macarons.

MAKE MACAROONS FOR PASSOVER

You can make them from scratch, or pick up a box or two (or three) of King Arthur Flour’s Coconut Macaroon Cookie Mix.

It’s $5.95 per box, yielding approximately 2 dozen macaroons; and it’s certified kosher.

They’re super-easy to make: Just add water to the mix, scoop them into balls and bake.

If you love coconut, this is your cookie. Ever so slightly toasty on the outside, moist and chewy inside.

They’re as good or better than any from-scratch recipe we’ve had.

While the ingredients themselves do not have gluten, the mix is not certified gluten-free because it hasn’t been tested for the presence of gluten.

VARIATIONS

You can dress them up macaroons by:

 
BAKING TIPS

Use parchment so the white bottoms don’t get too dark or scorch, and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F,

Even so, watch them closely as they bake.

If the mix is too dry, before baking, add another 1/4 cup of water (or as needed).

All photos courtesy King Arthur Flour.