My Filipino Coconut Macaroon Recipe

There is no single best version. Coconut macaroon recipes divide on one question — flour or no flour — and this card is on the no-flour side. There is no flour and no baking powder in it, and the sugar is brown rather than white.

That shows up at the shopping stage more than at the mixing bowl. With no flour and no leavening to weigh out, the whole thing is five ingredients, one bowl and a fork. It also means there is nothing in the mixture but coconut, dairy, eggs and sugar — worth knowing if you are baking around wheat, although the labels on your own coconut and condensed milk are the ones to check.

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Last updated 21 August 2026

Recipe

Filipino Coconut Macaroon

Prep

15 mins

Cook

30 mins

Total

45 mins

Serves

4

Ingredients

• 14 ounces sweet shredded coconut (or desiccated coconut)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 pieces raw eggs
• 14 ounces condensed milk

Method

1. In a big bowl, place the butter and give it a good creaming with a fork.
2. Mix in the brown sugar until it's nicely combined.
3. Crack in the eggs and pour in the condensed milk, then stir or beat until everything is smoothly blended.
4. Fold in the sweetened shredded coconut, making sure it's evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
5. If you have paper cups, place them in a mold. Otherwise, just place spoonfuls of the mixture directly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Preheat your oven to 370°F (190°C) for about 10 minutes.
7. Pop your macaroons in the oven and let them bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until they turn a lovely golden brown color.
8. Once they're done, let them cool slightly before serving. They're perfect for dessert or a quick snack.

Step by step, in pictures

The whole thing is one bowl and six moves.

1. 

   Cream the butter

2. 

   Beat in sugar, eggs and condensed milk

3. 

   Fold in the coconut

4. 

   Portion into cups or onto a sheet

5. 

   Bake until golden

6. 

   Cool before serving

Coconut Macaroon or Macaron — and Where Each One Comes From

Coconut macaroons are not originally Filipino. The macaroon family is commonly traced back to European almond confectionery, and the Philippine version is the one built on coconut and sweetened condensed milk. It is commonly associated with Christmas baking in the Philippines.

That also settles the spelling. A macaron is the Parisian sandwich cookie made from almond flour, egg whites and icing sugar, and it is a fussy thing to get right. A macaroon — two Os — is the coconut one, and far more straightforward to make. In the Philippines macaroons are usually baked in paper cups; this card lets you use them or drop spoonfuls straight onto a lined sheet, which is the shape in the photograph above.

Can You Make Coconut Macaroons With Three Ingredients?

Not this one — it uses five: shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, butter and brown sugar. Shorter versions of this recipe are a common search, but the source recipe gives no tested quantities for one, so this page does not publish a three-ingredient variant.

Tips for Macaroons Made With Sweetened Condensed Milk

A few things about the method are easy to miss on a first read:

• The oven goes to 370 °F (190 °C), and the card allows about ten minutes for it to come up to temperature. That step sits sixth in the list, so start the oven earlier if you would rather not wait for it.
• No mixer is needed. The card creams the butter with a fork.
• The coconut can be either. The card calls for sweetened shredded coconut and names desiccated coconut as an alternative, so use whichever your shop stocks.
• Paper cups are optional. If you have them, set them in a mould; if not, spoonfuls go straight onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Colour is the doneness cue rather than the clock. The card gives a twenty to thirty minute window and tells you to bake until golden brown.
• Let them cool a little before serving. The card asks for that, and it is the last step.

Storing and Freezing Coconut Macaroons

Let them cool completely on a wire rack before they go anywhere. Once they are cool, store them in an airtight container at room temperature.

To freeze, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, or layer them between sheets of parchment in a sealed container so they come apart cleanly again. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

More Filipino Coconut Sweets to Bake Next

If the coconut worked for you, bukayo is the closest match on this site — young coconut meat simmered in caramelised syrup and set into patties. Buko pandan cake takes coconut into a sponge with pandan alongside it, and cassava cake is a Filipino bake here with a custard top. For more Filipino biscuits there is otap, the layered puff-pastry oval from Cebu; pacencia, made from whipped egg whites; and uraro, the arrowroot cookie.