Place half the almond meal and the half powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture is finely ground. Sift into a large bowl and repeat process with remaining almond meal and powdered sugar along with the coconut chips. Sift the mixture two more times and set aside.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the cream of tartar over the eggs and hand mix the two together with the whisk attachment for the stand mixer. Fasten the whisk attachment and beat the mixture on medium speed until foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
Sift 1/3 of the almond mixture into the bowl with the meringue. Fold the ingredients together with a large spatula until incorporated. Continue sifting and folding until all the almond mixture is incorporated into the meringue and the mixture should drip slowly off the spatula; like lava flowing. (I suggest search Youtube to get a good visual of this texture. For me, it’s like pouring a really thick brownie batter or quick bread batter.)
Transfer the batter to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch tip and pipe 1 1/3 inch rounds onto a silpat covered baking sheet. There are several different templates out there. Two that I liked are here and here.
Preheat oven to 325.
You’re going to LOVE this next part! Once all the batter has been piped or your sheets are full, grab the edges of the pan, secure the silpat with your thumbs (or any extra batter) and rap the pans on the counter. This releases any remaining air bubbles in the meringue. Continue rapping the sheets, turning occasionally, until no more air bubbles surface. If there are a few that are being stubborn, take a toothpick and carefully pop them yourself. Allow the macaron to rest on the counter at least 30 minutes.
Once they’ve rested and the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, bake at 325 for 9 minutes. Rotate the pans front to back and top to bottom and bake an additional 9 minutes. Do the wiggle test to see if the meringue is cooked. If the tops move easily from side to side when wiggled, indicating the meringue isn’t completely cooked, then continue to cook in 4 to 5 minutes intervals until they no longer wiggle.
Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before filling.
While the macaron cool, make the ganache.
Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high one minute. Stir with a spoon. If the chocolate is not completely melted, microwave at 15 to 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the cream and vodka. Stir well to combine.
Pour into a piping bag with a 1/2 inch tip and allow to cool to room temperature before piping a quarter sized dot of ganache in the center of the shell. Top with a matching shell. Repeat with remaining shells and ganache.