Preheat oven to 175 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Alternatively, line with a permanent baking mat or baking paper, but the bases will not brown or caramelize as much.
Place coconut shreds in a food processor and blend on high speed until shreds have broken down a bit, become creamy, and most importantly, malleable. This step is important!!! If the coconut flakes are mixed too short and are not creamy, they can not be formed well. Caution!!! Do not mix too long, otherwise you will get coconut butter. That would be one step too many.
265 g Coconut flakes
Add maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla and mix well again.
30 ml maple syrup, 10 g Coconut oil, ¼ TL Bourbon vanilla ground
Portion with a tablespoon (for 10 pieces) or a teaspoon(for 20 smaller pieces) and shape into a ball in your hand. TIP: Press coconut macaroons together really well so that they form a hemisphere like in the picture. I use a portioning spoon for this.
Bake for8-10 minutes until the ends are nicely browned. Remove from oven and let cool completely. TIP: Let coconut macaroons really cool completely, if processed warm they will crumble. I often just let them sit overnight or put them in the freezer for 10 minutes before decorating them with chocolate.
Carefully melt chocolate in a water bath and dip the bottoms of the macaroons in chocolate. Let set on a draining rack or baking paper.
75 g dark vegan chocolate
The macaroons will keep for a few days on the cookie sheet. For longer storage, seal airtight and store in a cool, dry place.