Chocolate Chunk Macaroonies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Toast the almonds on a baking sheet in the preheated oven for 8 minutes.

Cool them to room temp, then place the sliced almonds in a 4 qt bowl and useyour hands to break them into irregular pieces. Set aside until needed.

Place the thawed coconut in a medium guage strainer. Using a rubber spatula,press down on the coconut to drain the excess moisture from the coconut. (

discard the liquid) set aside.

In a sifter combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift onto a largepiece of wax paper and set aside until needed.

In a 7 quart bowl, cream the butter, sugar and cream cheese with a stiffrubber spatula ( or wooded spoon) until smooth. Combine the egg yolks andvanilla extract into the mix. Add the coconut and mix until thoroughlycombined. Now add the sifted dry ingredients and continue mixing until fullyincorporated. Finally mix in the chopped chocolate.

Divide the cooki dough into 48 level Tbs. size pieces. onto a large sheet ofwax paper. Individually roll each dough portion in the almonds to coatthoroughly.( use your hands to form the almonds around each portion).

Place the portioins on 4 nonstick baking sheets.

evenly spaced portionsper baking sheet. Place the baking sheets on the top and center racks of thepreheated oven and bake for 12 minutes., until lightly golden brown aroundthe edges. Rotate the sheets from top to center and turn each sheet 180degrees about halfway through the baking time.

Remove the macaroonies from the oven and allow to cool at room temperaturefor 30 minutes. Store the macaroonies in a tightly sealed plastic containeruntil ready to serve.