Preheat your oven to 160°C or 320°F - circulated heat.
Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Be sure that your mixing bowl is cleaned of any traces of grease.
Using an electric hand or stand mixer, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. The salt will help to stabilize the egg white.
Now carefully fold in the sugar, vanilla sugar (or extract), almond extract ground cinnamon and shredded coconut. Do not mix too long as you do not want the egg whites to deflate.
If using lay out the oblaten wafers on the parchment. With two teaspoons add little heaps of the coconut egg mixture onto the oblate. You can also use a teaspoon and use your fingers to slide them off the spoon. - if you cannot are not using the oblate, simply place the straight onto the baking parchment.
Bake the coconut macaroons for 15 minutes at around 160°C or 320°F in the oven. The top should be slightly brown but now burn. If you like whiter macaroons wait until the top has firmed up.
If you like, dip the coconut macaroons in dark chocolate. Store them airtight in a cookie tin
Notes
Recipe Variations
These German coconut macarons are very easy to make your own. They go with a variety of flavors, other than the almond extract. Why not...
add ¼ teaspoon rum or run flavoring
add grated lemon or orange peel to your shredded coconut
to make them especially cinnamony add 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
for orange coconut macarons - mix in 2 teaspoon finely chopped candied orange peel
In Germany, we store coconut macaroons in cookie tins. They tend to dry out if you leave them too long so you can protect them even more by laying a sheet of foil on top. They last a long time, but they may dry out if not careful.
What should I do if the Coconut Macaroons dry out?
You can put them in an airtight container. Cover them with a sheet of foil and place a moist paper towel on top. This should give them more moisture. Another German trick is to store them in a tin with sliced apples. This will also make them moist again.
Can I freeze Coconut Macaroons?
Yes, they freeze well. Just take them out of the freeze one hour before you intend to eat them.