Did these purple beauties catch your attention? The colour of this treat was created by adding gorgeous and delicious baked purple sweet potatoes!
Making good desserts is often a little challenging when you have to avoid so many of the top allergens. And, if you are sensitive to refined white sugar reducing the overall amount of sweetness is tricky at times.
So many desserts contain loads of added sugar to help bind things together. Fresh is Real always reduces and replaces the sweetness with better for you kinds of natural sugars like maple syrup, coconut palm sugar, dates, fruits or in this case a vegetable!
Purple Coconut Macaroons
The Purple Coconut Macaroons recipe is adapted from this recipe shared by Lemons and Love. Originally created by Angela Liddon’s (Oh She Glows), you can find it in her new book Oh She Glows Every Day.
That recipe calls for almond flour which I had to modify because this is an allergen-friendly food blog.
Various allergen-free ingredients were tested. The winning alternative was sunflower seed flour made with organic raw sunflower seeds. The addition of purple sweet potatoes was a nice twist to make it even more interesting!
Tools
Simple tools are a must in my kitchen! If you don’t have soft creamy coconut butter on hand you can easily make some. You will need extra unsweetened shredded coconut and coconut oil to do so.
To make homemade coconut butter, blend (in a small blender or food processor) about 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut with 1 to 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Blend until nice and smooth. It should make enough for the 1/4 cup required in the recipe.
In addition, you will need an oven and some basic kitchen tools like a large bowl, mixing and measuring spoons and cups.
Ingredients
In a recipe such as this one, I often recommend using organic and fair trade ingredients whenever possible.
There are not many ingredients in the Purple Coconut Macaroons recipe, so making sure they are of the best quality will result in the tastiest treat!
Previous Recipe
Fresh is Real’s goal is to alternate between a treat and a healthier recipe for each post but with Valentine’s Day, I ended having two desserts ready to share in a row.
These Raw Coconut Carob Treats are the bomb! If you have a friend that loves chocolate but can’t eat any because of migraines or headaches, send them a link to this recipe.
Most importantly, ladies, these are especially great for the week before that time of the month when you feel that you could KILL for chocolate!
Share Your Creations
Did you make my version of these Purple Coconut Macaroons? Share a picture on Instagram and tag it @freshisreal with hashtag #freshisreal
One more thing, let us know what you think of the added purple sweet potatoes! Comment below and rate the recipe.
Purple Coconut Macaroons
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 1x
- Category: Desserts, Snacks, Treats
- Method: Oven-Baked
- Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Vegan, Plant-Based, Allergen-Friendly, Refined Sugar-Free
Description
These oven-baked macaroons are one of a kind because they are naturally sweetened, allergen-friendly and purple!
The Purple Coconut Macaroons recipe is adapted from this recipe shared by Lemons and Love. Originally created by Angela Liddon’s (Oh She Glows), you can find it in her new book Oh She Glows Every Day.
Ingredients
1 cup sunflower seed flour*
1–1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup mashed purple sweet potato**
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut butter, soft***
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 vanilla bean powder (optional)
Optional chocolate drizzle:
1/4 cup dark chocolate****
1 teaspoon coconut oil or maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275° F. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add all the ingredients, including the mashed purple sweet potato and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.
- Scoop out 12-16 balls, with a small ice cream scoop and place onto the baking sheet. With your hands roll to smooth edges to shape into bite-size macaroons.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, move the macaroons around, so they don’t stick, rotate your pan and continue baking for another 12 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when edges and underside are golden.
- Let them cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Once completely cooled, drizzle melted chocolate if you wish, sprinkling with more shredded coconut is optional.
- Have fun with these; you can also serve them as macaroon pops! Enjoy!*****
Notes
*Grind organic raw sunflower seeds into a fine flour. Almond flour/meal is an excellent alternative if you are not allergic to nuts.
**For best results oven bake the purple sweet potato or steam it until soft. The potato has to be soft, contain moisture and creamy, not dry and crumbly.
***To make homemade coconut butter, blend (in a small blender or food processor) about 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut with 1 to 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Blend until nice and smooth. It should make enough for the 1/4 cup required in the recipe.
**** Make sure to find a brand that is free of the top allergens you avoid.
***** If serving these as macaroon pops, insert the stick only after baking them.
Note: this recipe works well even without the sweet potatoes, but please increase the maple to 1/2 cup if omitting the potato. Doing so will help bind the ingredients together.