These cookies are not new and you probably already have a recipe for making them. But on the off chance that you don't, here's a version I have been making for years and are a traditional family favorite. If you're a Mounds fan-you will love these!

As for the big news, there are two parts. First, I've been asked to partner with the good folks at HooplaHa to make some videos about my recipes and the funny, sometimes crazy family stories behind them. Here's the link to the video which corresponds to my post earlier this week, Grandma Bella's Amazing Matzo Balls.   http://hooplaha.com/2015/03/one-familys-unwritten-recipe-for-matzah-ball-soup/. The second piece of good news is that the video is now being featured online at Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hooplaha/one-familys-unwritten-rec_b_6971742.html?utm_hp_ref=huffpost-home&ir=HuffPost+Home  If you have a minute, take a look, have a good laugh and please like and share if you can.

Now back to the macaroons...

Really these could not be easier to put together. There are only 5 ingredients, you only use one bowl, you don't need a mixer, hey, you don't even need a spoon--the whole thing gets mixed together by your own loving hands.

Once you've mixed everything up, you make little mounded haystacks on the cookie sheet and bake them for about 30 minutes.

Your kitchen will smell absolutely fantastic as these emerge all golden brown and chewy.

Once they're cooled, you melt chocolate and simply dip the bottoms into it and let them dry on wax paper.

Then you store them in the fridge until ready to serve. The macaroons are chewy and loaded with delicate coconut flavor and the chocolate layer just sends the whole thing over the top. You'll be hard pressed to stop at just one!

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Makes 20

Prep Time:  10 minutes: Bake Time:  30 minutes; Dipping Time:  15 minutes (plus time for chocolate to harden)

Ingredients

• 5 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 3 egg whites from large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6-7 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

The Recipe

1.  Preheat oven to 300ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine coconut, egg whites, sugar and vanilla in a medium sized bowl and use your hands to mix it all together. Form clumps about an inch wide and about 2 inches high and place on the cookie sheet about an inch apart, making clumps into a sort of haystack with a pointed top. 

2.  Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown and firm, reversing the sheet front to back once, during the process.

3.  Remove from the oven, place sheet on a wire rack and let cookies cool completely. 

4.  Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Place a long piece of wax paper on the counter. Once chocolate is melted, dip bottoms of macaroons into the chocolate, let the excess drip off and quickly place on the wax paper, pressing down ever so slightly. Let stand till chocolate is completely hardened. Then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

5.  Cookies keep 1 week, chilled and recipe doubles very well.

Enjoy!

Note:  Recipe adapted from Fred's Restaurant, Barney's New York printed in the NY Times in 1997.  I double the size of the macaroons so that I get only 20 instead of 40, cook them 15 minutes longer and add a chocolate layer on the bottom.