How should I substitute unsweetened coconut for sweetened coconut?

December 21, 2020 7:31 AM

I'm planning to make a Cook's Illustrated recipe for macaroons. The recipe calls for both sweetened and unsweetened coconut, but I was unable to find sweetened coconut in the store. How much additional sweetener & moisture would I need if I used nothing but unsweetened coconut? I want to do Christopher Kimball proud.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 cup of cream of coconut
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 4 egg whites (which get whipped into a meringue)
• 3 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3 cups of sweetened shredded coconut

plus small amounts of salt and vanilla, and chocolate for dipping (which are probably not relevant for this question.)

My understanding is that the sweetened dried coconut, in addition to being sweeter, also has more moisture in it than unsweetened dried coconut. So I don't think that it's simply a matter of adding more sugar.

Ironically, the recipe gives instructions on how to substitute sweetened coconut for the unsweetened: reduce cream of coconut to 1/2 c, omit corn syrup, add 2 Tbsp cake flour. But it does not say how to go the other direction; and the presence of the additional cake flour makes it difficult to "reverse" these modifications.

posted by Johnny Assay to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

I would probably evenly distribute some simple syrup (spray?) and let soak in a Tupperware overnight. Not saying this is the most approved method, just what I would likely do
posted by raccoon409 at 8:16 AM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Simple syrup + unsweetened coconut is the solution given here. Using the author's measurements, you'd dissolve 1/4 c. sugar in 3/4 c. water on the stove, stir in the unsweetened coconut, let it absorb completely, and then dry out the now-sweetened coconut on waxed paper. The drying is presented optional, but it seems like you'd want to if the goal is to reproduce store-bought exactly.
posted by wreckingball at 8:42 AM on December 21, 2020 [4 favorites]

If it were me, I would add a half a cup of coconut cream and maybe another egg white or some aquafaba. I would not sweeten the unsweetened coconut.
posted by aniola at 6:36 PM on December 21, 2020

Response by poster: The simple syrup method worked well! The one wrinkle was that I accidentally quadrupled (!) the amount of syrup in the method; but I realized my error pretty quickly and drained the surplus syrup off of the coconut before I let it dry, and it seems to have worked out OK.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:07 AM on December 23, 2020