If you ever decide to start your own small pastry food business, here is my gift to you – my original recipe for
“Chef Keem’s Tres Leches Coconut Macaroons”.
For the last 6 years, I’ve been selling my macaroons at farmers markets and to Austin-area wholesale accounts. Most of the time I can’t keep up with the demand. My “tres leches” recipe version of the regular condensed milk macaroon is that good!
Tres Leches Coconut Macaroons
What makes my macaroon recipe so successful?
Although these are easy to make macaroons, they’re very rich. The commonly known “deluxe” recipe for coconut macaroons asks for condensed milk and cream. I wanted to top that and added a third “milk” to the recipe: sour cream. Hence – “tres leches” (three milks). The tang of the sour cream counteracts the heavy sweetness of the condensed milk, adds richness and keeps the batter together during baking.
By the way, if you’re on a gluten free diet – this is a flourless coconut macaroons recipe!
My second special feature in my coconut macaroon recipe is the addition of Mexican vanilla instead of a regular extract.
How to make my coconut macaroon cookies
For 24/3 ozs. macaroons we will need…
- 5 or 6-qt. stand mixer
- #12 ice cream scoop
- rubber spatula
- 4/14 ozs. bags of sweetened coconut flakes
- 2/14 ozs. cans of sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon Mexican vanilla
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Macaroon ingredients
Sour cream & vanilla!
Mix well
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Scrape bowl & spatula
Grab a heaped scoop… —>
Scoop a cookie
Pack lightly
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Space on sheet
Bake at 325
Golden brown
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You can dip the cool coconut macaroons in melted dark, milk, or white chocolate, or any variations thereof. It is absolutely fabulous!
Choco-dipped macs
Feel free to add a handful of chocolate chips to the batter, or butterscotch or peanut butter morsels. Add a tablespoon of espresso flakes dissolved in a little hot water along with any chips. Other flavoring ingredients may include candied ginger or pineapple pieces; dried cherries, rum raisins…whatever you like. This batter is very addition-friendly as long as you don’t add too much liquid along with it.
Let me know how you like this recipe, in the comment box below. And as always – feel free to ask your questions. I promise to answer them promptly. (Oh, yeah – one of these miracle balls has about 385 calories. Non-dipped. So what.) 
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You know these are the most tasty macaroons I’ve ever had — I’m thinking that I might add macadamia nuts to the recipe — like mine nutty ya know!
I love your recipe. It was very easy. They turned out beautifully. I have even blogged about it on my blog.
Thanks!
Thanks for coming by. A real chef on my blog, impressive. I realized tonight, while making another batch, that I should have broiled them. It certainly helped, except for the ones I forgot. I will call them cajun style. I have been removing their tops and eating their insides. I refuse to waste good food.
Thanks again, Melissa
What difference will there be by using just regular vanilla flavoring? This recipe sounds deliously decadent.
Hi Linda,
in a baked item, it doesn’t really make a huge difference whether you use Mexican Vanilla or any other kind. The most important part is to use a good-quality, pure vanilla extract. Imitation vanilla leaves a little artificial aftertaste, wherever you use it. When flavoring a non-cooked/baked food with vanilla, the distinct Mexican Vanilla flavor is much more recognizable, but it’s more a matter of preference and personal taste than a quality issue. Yes, this recipe deserves the label “decadent”! Best, – Chef Keem.
Mmmm… these look delicious … I’ve often wondered how to make them!
Thank you so much for writing this lens I’m definately going to give these a try, and gluten free too so I can make some for my mum!
All the best,
herbs x
Thanks for your kind words, herbs. Try this recipe and you’ll be surprised how easy they are to make. And they’re so rich and good! Play with a few variations, if you like – add chocolate chips and a little coffee extract, or butterscotch chips, lavender essential oil, spiced rum raisins, dried pineapple pieces, etc.. Let me know what your mum said.
How long do these keep? I need to make quite a bunch and wonder how far ahead I could make them?
Hi Susanne,
First of all – they do freeze well. However, the fresh macaroons keep for about 3 to 4 weeks in cello bags or plastic wrap, before they start drying out from the outside in. Hope this helps, Keem.
These sound great. How do I dip them in chocolate the way your picture shows? That is, what / how do I rest them once I dip them until they are set?
Hi Suzie,
I use a dipping chocolate for this purpose. You can get some at better grocery stores, i.e. “Bakers” brand. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and dip the macaroons. Then place the tray with the dipped macaroons in your freezer, for about 10 minutes. Freezing helps to set the chocolate quickly and preserve a certain shine. If you choose to set them in the refrigerator, they end up looking a bit dull but they taste just as good. Hope this helps. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any other questions. –Keem
I love this recipe! I have another much more complicated recipe I was using but these are better and easier. They are my husband’s and my best friend’s favorite cookies so I’ll be making them often now that I know an easier way. (Just have to watch out for the increase in calories for my hubby!)
Thanks for your kind words, Julee! I agree – this recipe can be made fairly quickly and that’s good. I have to make hundreds of them weekly for a variety of local clients. I figured about 385 calories per cookie, but since they’re so rich you can make smaller ones too for complete satisfaction.
Hi-
Thank you for your recipe. I really want to try make this, but I do not have a stand mixer. Can it be done with just an electric mixer?
Hi, Chuckie -
good news – you don’t need a mixer at all! Simply combine all the ingredients with a spatula in a large bowl. Just make sure that the moisture is evenly distributed. You might even want to start with half a recipe – it’s really easy to mix by hand (with a spoon or spatula). Oh, and don’t use one of those hand-held electric mixers…they’re too weak and you might burn out the motor!
Thanks Chef! I really appreciate your promptness! I look forward to cooking this soon!
My step-son has requested Birthday Macaroons for his birthday rather then the traditional birthday cake! I’ve never made macaroons before and have been looking for recipes on line. Your recipe look and sounds wonderful! I just sent my husband to the store for necessary items and will report back when they are done! Wish me luck! vc
Birthday Macaroons sounds like an interesting choice of a strong-willed individual, a non-conformist who knows what he wants. (I just made this up… but it rings true, doesn’t it?) Good luck, vc!
Cant wait to try these the 3 milk recipes are great
Would it work to use fresh vanilla bean instead of extract? If so, how much do you recommend that I use? Or, should I use a mix of vanilla bean and extract? Great recipe and thank you for sharing it!
Becster
I would probably steep fresh vanilla (dried vanilla beans) in the small amount of cream in the recipe and then strain it into the batter. In a baked product, I’m not overly concerned with the vanilla quality. Of course, it should be real vanilla and not any cheap imitation, but the difference between vanilla beans and extract is probably not noticeable.
Thank you soooooo much for putting this recipe online! I went to Farm to Market today, as I sometimes do, to pick up some of these babies, and they were nowhere to be found. The staff said you have been focusing your energy on a new restaurant. I thought I was going to have to live the rest of my life without another tres leches macaroon, and that simply won’t do. I can’t wait to try the recipe.
Best of luck with the new business!
Thank you so much for your kind note, Tiffany. Go ahead and try this recipe – you can’t fail (except by burning ‘em!
). And coconut is so good for you…wink, wink!
might be a stupid question but can milk substitute sweetened condensed milk
It’s not a stupid question at all, Stetson. Problem is, milk would run out during baking because it’s too thin. In condensed milk, much of the water has been cooked off during the reduction (condensing) process. The high sugar content and the semi-caramelized milk stick together with the coconut flakes and result in a compact, moist cookie.
[...] you ask. Well, we will start out with my own (locally famous) specialty: Chef Keem’s Tres Leches Coconut Macaroons. And we’ll take it from there, [...]
Hello Chef
This may seem like a silly question, but I wondered if I could incorporate fresh strawberries or strawberry puree into your coconut macaroon recipe. Any thoughts on how I would do this without changing the texture? ps: They’re fabulous on their own!
Hi Katy,
the problem with adding fruit or fruit puree is the water content. It dilutes the batter and everything starts running out during baking. If you’re looking for a strawberry flavor for you macaroons, I would recommend adding a few drops of Lorann flavoring oil to the batter. You can buy it online or from bakery supply stores. They might even carry it at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
Another way to add fruit is to make a dent in the top (like thumb print cookies), fill it with jam and then bake it off. I’ve done this myself and it works great.
These recipe is the best one ever!!!!! I just tried it and we already ate half of the macaroons in one hour!!!! THANK YOU so much for sharing it with everybody!!! I love it and I will make those macaroons every week!!!
Your comment makes me so happy, Andra. Just be careful so you won’t get tired of eating macs every week and start hating them.