There is something about eating coconut based treats in the dead of winter that is insanely warming. It probably the mere nibble of coconut can virtually transport you to a sun-soaked tropical beach. That may be stretching it a bit, but these cookies are escapism by the hand full.

Now I'm not claiming these little balls will defend you when the dreaded winter blues, comes calling, but they certainly can help.

The playful shape evokes the image of snowball and winter, but the taste screams tropical lounging by the pool! Perfect I say!

I Love St Patrick's Day. This love affair is somewhat strange seeing that I don't have a drop of Irish blood running through my veins and can really live without drinking copious amount of Guinness from noon till night. I think my love affair harks back to my obsession with the colour green and the one day a year that it is acceptable (in some people eye's) to turn food stuffs glorious shades of emerald.

My finest greenification of food was a St Patrick's Day brunch back in my Kansas City days. Egged on by my best friend's love of being Irish, Jen and I hosted a day long fete of all things Irish. I was in charge of the food. We served green bagels topped with salmon and capers, green tortilla chips to dip in crab and spinach dip, green scrambled eggs and ham, cakes with green icing, shamrock cookies and the list went on and on. We washed them all down with cocktails dyed in various shades of green, whiskey and of course Guinness.

It's been ages since I've gone to those extreme measures in the greenification of food, but my fascination is still there. After beating my rather personal 'Curse of the Macarons' I thought I'd attempt a greenification of the macaron. Let me first proclaim that I'm not a master of the macaron and that this is not the definitive guide to making a macaron. There are loads of other sites out there that go into great detail on the art of making macarons.