Lemon and coconut friands

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I’m trying to get rid of my bad freezer habits. In the past, the poor freezer has been a dumping ground for bits and bobs – leftovers, citrus rinds, unidentifiable meat, and other random items. But with some discipline, I’m slowly getting it under control. All new things that enter the freezer are now labelled (no more random meat!) and I’ve been clearing it out by using what’s in there.


Well, I’m mostly clearing it out. It’s a slow process sometimes – I’m working my way through the 15 or so ripe bananas I discovered hiding in the back (I know, I know) and the other weekend I cleared out six egg whites by making these friands.

I’m being a complete coconut fiend at the moment – coconut milk smoothies, coconut flour pancakes, coconut and date balls (omg, just wait for those – AMAZING) so it’s easy to see why I decided on this recipe. At first, I was a bit hesitant on friands because I really couldn’t be bothered putting in a lot of effort. But it turns out that I’ve been making friands wrong all this time. I used to follow a recipe where the egg whites were beaten until stiff and then folded into the other ingredients. But the recipes in Bake said to just beat the egg whites with a fork and stir in the other ingredients.

Whatdoyaknow, they came out perfect – sweet but lemony, and slightly dense in a pleasing way. They had slightly crispy edges, which were oh so lovely. They do look a bit flat, but that’s because they were baked in shallow tart tins as my friand tin has gone AWOL.

They were so simple and quick that I’m never making friands the other way again. One bowl baking – it couldn’t get any easier.

Lemon and coconut friands

Adapted from AWWW Bake

Makes about 12

6 egg whites
185g butter, melted
100g almond meal
240g icing sugar
75g plain flour
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon lemon juice
20g desiccated coconut
15g flaked almonds

Preheat your oven to 200°C and grease a 12 hole muffin or friand tin.

In a medium bowl, beat your egg whites using a fork. Stir in the butter, almond meal, sifted icing sugar and flour, lemon rind, juice and desiccated coconut and mix until just combined.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the friand mixture into each pan hole and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool.