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These brown sugar orange macaroons are the perfect coconut cookie treat. They are fresh, zesty, and perfectly sweet.

The perfect brown sugar orange macaroon!
Happy Mother’s Day!!! It is a very special day for all those hardworking moms out there in the universe. Unfortunately, I do not get to see my mother because she lives in Florida, but I did make sure to call her early this morning to wish her a wonderful day.
Today was very busy, and since I had to work, I took the little girl I nanny for to the aquarium in Connecticut.
This took most of my energy, so I wanted a quick cookie that would taste good. I needed to have most of the ingredients at my boss’s house. I looked through my saved recipes and settled on an ambrosia macaroon. I lacked some of the needed ingredients, but I improvised, and in the end, they turned out super delicious.
The cookies have a hint of orange zest, which I think adds a lot to the recipe and perks up the flavor.
I also made the macaroon with brown sugar instead of white sugar.
Before I made this recipe, I read through the comments, and the one thing that stuck out was that people were complaining the cookies were too coconutty. I think that if you are eating a macaroon, you would know it is heavy on the coconut because that is what they are made of.
Common sense should tell you what you are getting into when you see a recipe that calls for all coconut and a few other ingredients.
I wanted to bring this point up in case people are not coco “nuts” (as one commenter pointed out) because they may not enjoy this cookie.
Oh, one last thing.
These cookies go from brown to burnt on the bottom very quickly. While they still taste a little dark brown, they do not taste that great when the bottoms are black.

More coconut recipes
Brown Sugar Orange Macaroons

Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
- 3 large eggs
- 24 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Make sure the oven racks are in the middle of the oven. Line 3 large rimmed baking sheet pans with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
- Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until smooth.
- Add brown sugar and salt and beat until blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Whip down the sides of the bowl.
- Mix in orange peel until combined, and mix in the eggs, one at a time.
- Fold in coconut.
- Using a 1-½ tablespoon cookie scoop, drop batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-½ inches apart.
- Bake macaroons, 1 sheet at a time, until golden on the bottom and browned in spots, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool completely on sheets.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
















My, they certainly look delicious!
I wonder if parchment paper would resolve the over-browning on the bottoms?
Parchment paper probably would fix the problem. I didn’t have any at my bosses house but when I remake them at home I will have to give it a try. Thanks!
Lola is so sweet! I bet you both had fun! And I love these cookies, their short on ingredients and big on flavor. My Dad loves these and I keep meaning to make him some. I’ll definitely have to try these out!
Let me know if he likes them:)
Cute picture of Lola the seal! 🙂
These look delicious. I love macaroons so I will be giving them a try. Substituting a small amount of vegetable shortening for the butter may also help with the over-browning since it does not burn as quickly as butter does.
Lola was posing for a picture. She must have been having a good Mother’s Day!:)
I will have to try to vegetable shortening and see how it turns out. I honestly didn’t mind the bottoms dark brown because I like the deep flavor of the toasted coconut but some people may not dig it as much as I do.
Thanks for the tip!
The orange macaroons look scrumptious!
Thanks!
I absolutely love these macaroons. They sound so flavorful. First time to your blog, it is absolutely wonderful. I see lots of recipes to try.
Thank you so much! It’s amazing how much flavor just a little bit of orange zest can bring.
oh my.. i’ve been craving for macaroons lately, but haven’t had the time to make them. and then, i stumbled upon your blog… with macaroons!!! after seeing this.. i think i’ve gotten desperate for them now! hahaha…
Thank for checking out my blog:) I know how it feels to be craving something but the best part is that these macaroons are super easy to make and take no time at all!
Saw you on Reeni’s blog and wanted to say hi!
Hi back:) Thank you so much for reading my blog!
Looks delicious and easy. And love Lola!