We’ve been watching the Olympics every night and there’s something fun about watching it and sitting on the couch and eating appetizers for dinner instead of a real meal.  I whipped up this delicious and guilt-free treat as our dinner the other night and it was a hit.  Jon and I both gobbled down almost every last shrimp and I made a pound.  It  takes about 15 minutes of prep and about 17 minutes of baking time.  While it can get a bit messy it’s a really simple recipe that tastes like we ordered it from a restaurant.  I plan on making this as an appetizer the next time I entertain.

Enjoy!

Oven Baked Coconut Shrimp with Habanero Peach Lime Dipping Sauce (Makes 24 shrimp: serves 6-8 as appetizer)

Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 cup peach Habanero jam (If you can’t find this jam, just get a peach or pineapple jam and mix with 2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper)
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp peeled and deveined
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups sweetened flaked  coconut

Directions:

• Combine lime juice & jam in a small bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl beat egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.
• Place cornstarch and coconut on two separate plates. Hold shrimp by the tail and dip and coat the shrimp with cornstarch. Next, dip the shrimp in the egg whites and finally in the coconut coating well.
• Place shrimp on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until coconut is a golden brown.  Turn shrimp once halfway through cooking time to make sure both sides brown.
• Serve with dipping sauce.