I am not a wasteful person.  I try to reuse or repurpose anything that has outlived its original purpose. When the mesh covering of my Dobie dish sponges are ripped & full of holes, I discard the outer mesh and use the inner sponges in the bottom of plant pots to conserve water.

I am also thrifty when it comes to food items. If I need only the yolks of the eggs, I separate the two parts and freeze the egg whites for a later use. Sometimes that is in omelets or scrambled eggs. But after the holiday baking season, I find myself with an awful lot of egg whites, more than we can fit into the infrequent egg breakfasts we eat.

Back in October, Gilbert surprised Kelly with an assortment of macaroons when they were going to be apart for a few days. Kelly loved them and wanted to do some experimenting with making macaroons. Lo & behold, macaroons use up lots of egg whites! Now that the holidays are over and we have some time to bake, it is time to thaw those egg whites in the freezer. First up, a Lemony Almond Macaroon.

Lemony Almond Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 1 14-ounce package sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 large egg whites

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325°. In a large bowl, combine the coconut, almonds, sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Set it aside.

Combine all the ingredients except for the egg whites.

With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.

Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Fold in the egg whites.

Drop mounds of the mixture (about 2 tablespoons each) onto 2 parchment-lined or Silpat lined baking sheets, spacing the confections about 1½ inches apart.

I like reuseable Silpat mats over parchment paper.

Bake the macaroons, turning the baking sheets halfway through, for about 15-16 minutes. Turn the heat up to 350° and continue to bake the cookies for another 3-5 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Cool the confections for 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Dense & chewy with a hint of lemon!

These cookies remind me of warm & sunny climates!  ~Linda

Ingredients:

• 1 14-ounce package sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 large egg whites

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325°. In a large bowl, combine the coconut, almonds, sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Set it aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop mounds of the mixture (about 2 tablespoons each) onto 2 parchment-lined of Silpat lined baking sheets, spacing the confections about 1½ inches apart.

Bake the macaroons, turning the baking sheets halfway through for about 15-16 minutes. Turn the heat up to 350° and continue to bake the cookies for another 3-5 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Cool the confections for 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.