Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cocoanut Macaroons
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Cook the mixture
Combine coconut, powdered sugar, and egg whites in a copper kettle and mix well.
Place over low heat, stirring continuously.
When it boils, ensure it doesn't burn.
Remove from heat when stiff enough.
Shape and bake
Once cool, add more egg whites to achieve a stiff dough.
Shape the mixture on parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) until golden brown.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Coconut + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,742 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Coconut + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,090 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Prepared coconut
- Forms the bulk of the cookie and gives it its chewy, shreddy texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the mixture bind and brown as it cooks.
- Egg whites
- Bind the coconut and set as they cook, giving the dough its structure and stiffness.
The step that matters
Remove from heat when stiff enough. Sugar and egg proteins scorch easily over heat, so the mixture must be stirred constantly and kept from burning. Overcooking dries it into a crumbly mass that will not hold its shape, while undercooking leaves it too soft to form.
Swap the coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Coconutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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