Coconut Macaroons

I have been meaning to post this for months!

1 16 oz bag of shredded coconut (though I usually have two bags on hand just incase, you will see why.)
2 egg whites
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 tsp vanilla
1 can sweet and condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  (one recipe said 250, but that never worked for me)
In a bowl whip the egg whites until they begin to form soft peaks.  Add the sugar and the extracts to the egg white mixture.  Continue to beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

In another large bowl dump the coconut and stir in sweet the sweet and condensed milk.  You don't want to dump the whole can at once.  You want just enough of the sweet and condensed milk to create a sticky batter.  It takes awhile to get the sense for what that is you just don't want the mixture to be runny.  If there is too much sweet and condensed milk the macaroons don't cook right.  I will sometimes have to add more coconut to get the right texture if I have added too much milk.

Gently fold in the egg mixture into the coconut batter until completely incorporated.  Spoon teaspoon sized balls onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  (I use the Silpat, seriously couldn't live without it!)
I use the pampered chief ice cream/cookie scoop it works perfectly.  Place the pan in the oven on the center rack and cook for 30 minutes.  Here is the important part.  When the timer beeps, turn off the oven, crack it open and leave the cookies in the oven until it cools.  Then remove the cookies from the oven and place them cookies on a cooling rack.  Sometimes I drizzle melted chocolate on top, other times I just leave them.
Enjoy!