Coconut Macaroons with Salted Caramel

Ingredients

• For the macaroons:
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cake flour
• Pinch kosher salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 14-ounce bags sweetened shredded coconut
• 6 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of kosher salt
• For the Salted Caramel:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablepoons light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and salt for the pastry cream. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth, then gradually work in the dry ingredients until the mixture becomes thick and paste-like.
2. To make the pastry cream, warm the milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until tiny bubbles appear at the sides. Pull the pan from the heat, then slowly whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture. Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking hard for about a minute, until it tightens into a thick, heavy cream. Add the vanilla, press plastic wrap over the top, and cool it completely.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F, and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together the coconut, egg white, sugar, salt, and cooled pastry cream.
4. Shape the mixture into mounds and arrange them on the baking sheet. Bake until the macaroons are golden brown, about 25-35 minutes, turning the trays midway through the baking time.
5. For the optional salted caramel, put the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan and boil over medium heat until the syrup becomes pale amber. Take it off the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Let the caramel cool a little, about 5 to 10 minutes, before spooning it over the cookies so it thickens enough to drizzle neatly.