I am speaking now to the lazy bakers, the sweet-tooth havers who, despite their love and desire for dessert, would do close to anything to avoid rolling out a fussy round of pastry: I hear you, I am you, and I have a new favorite solution.
Press-in crusts have long been marketed to our kind. The preeminent pie- and tart-base work-around, they’re crumbly mixtures dumped unceremoniously into baking vessels—no delicate transferring of dough from floured surface to pan—and smushed into every corner using the pads of your fingers before baking. Some press-in crusts arecookie-orgraham-cracker-crumb-based, some are made fromground nuts, and still others are technicallyshortbread. They are all easier to pull off than a classic pastry crust, but usually the time and effort you save catches up with you when you take your first bite. A press-in crust is fine, maybe even good, but always plays second fiddle to your tart filling of choice.
Unless we’re talking aboutthispress-in crust, which is worth the price of tart admission all by itself. It doesn’t require a food processor or cutting butter into flour. It’s uniquely flavorful, texturally surprising, and gluten-free, if that’s your bag. You very well may have all of the ingredients ready and waiting in your pantry right this minute.
Please welcome to the stage: coconut macaroon crust.
Coconut macaroons are regulars in my rotation of very easy, limited-ingredientback-pocket baked goodsmostly because I don’t need a recipe to make them. While they can flex to accommodate whatever you have in your baking cabinet, basic macaroons are just shredded coconut held together with sugar and egg whites, dropped in heaps on a sheet pan or packed into balls. With the addition of a little butter, the mixture can be pressed into a well-greased tart pan or pie plate the same way a graham cracker crust would, and baked to create the perfect home for a fruity, chocolaty, caramelly, or custardy filling.