Easter Macaroons from "Cook The TV"!!

Hey everyone!  I'm about finished up with my renovation and will move in next week...finally!!  In the mean time, my friend Di from Cook the TV has a great tasting, easy recipe for Easter and she's been kind enough to share it here on my blog!  Please give a warm welcome to Di!

Hi everyone. Thanks Danni so much for the kind invitation to do a guest post. I have been a huge fan of Silo Hill Farm for a  long time.

My name is Di. I blog over at CTV. I started the blog about a year and a half ago. At the time, I was watching a lot of cooking shows on TV and thought it would be great fun to take the famous TV chef's recipes and make them more accessible for busy moms and home cooks.

A little about me: I'm 50, divorced, have 3 beautiful grown daughters, 2 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. I love my girls and miss them being home, even after having an empty nest for about 4 years now! I'm pretty sentimental about my kids. I even exchanged a few tearful emails with Amy of While Wearing Heels about her daughter going off to kindergarten! I think the "tearful" part was mainly on my end! Haha.

Today's recipe is a fun take on a very easy macaroon that I originally made on the blog earlier this year. 

The original recipe is from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. I saw this in a magazine and had to do it for you. I simply made the macaroons, indented them slightly with a spoon while they were warm out of the oven, and placed tiny "eggs" in them. This recipe makes about 20 cookies. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk- 1 can
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large or large egg whites, at room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• candy in the shape of tiny eggs, I used Cadbury Mini Eggs, chocolate with a candy shell

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed with a hand-held electric mixer, or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, until the egg whites form medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.
3. Drop the batter onto the baking sheets, using either a 1¾-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. 
4. Remove from oven and immediately indent the center of each cookie, using the back of a small spoon. 
5. Remove from pan and let cool. 
6. Drop 2 or 3 "egg" candies into each "nest". 

Thanks so much for your time everyone! And thanks, Danni, for letting me strut my stuff on your wonderful blog:0 Happy Easter every one:)