Preheat oven to 330F. Each oven bakes differently. When baking, if you notice that your cookies are turning too dark, turn oven temperature down to 320F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk with coconut, vanilla and salt. If you want your macaroons to be sweeter, use sweetened coconut flakes. Stir to coat coconut evenly.

Place egg whites into mixer bowl and whisk until medium peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into coconut mixture, doing so in small batches. You want to keep the egg whites as fluffy as possible.

Spoon cookie batter into large heaps on prepared baking sheet. Can make small or large macaroons; larger ones will need to bake longer.

Bake in preheated oven for 28-30 minutes. The center needs to be set and the cookies should be golden all over. They will be slightly soft to touch but shouldn't be soggy. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on parchment paper; can transfer cookies still on paper to cooling rack to cool faster.

Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips either in double boiler or in microwave. If chocolate is not as smooth as you would like it to be, add 1/2 teaspoon of shortening. Dip warm or cooled cookies into chocolate and tap off any excess chocolate. Set back onto paper to set completely. Alternatively, place the melted chocolate into a disposable pastry bag or ziploc bag and drizzle just the tops of the cookies in chocolate. Keep in airtight container when chocolate sets.