We’ve only got eight more weeks until our blog hop is over. I can’t believe how these last few weeks have just flown by! I’m excited that I’m not only enjoying all the new-to-me recipes from all the participating bloggers but also that my freezer is filling up with tasty treats that I can pull out during the hectic holidays! I hope you’re baking along side us and filling your freezers too!
My selection this week is a cookie I first tasted almost 10 years ago at one of my first cookie exchange parties. I love how festive they are with the chopped red and green candied cherries and their slightly sweet but mostly shortbread-like taste were a big plus! And the fun addition of coconut around the edges to create Santa’s Whiskers. Soon this became my staple holiday cookie go-to at future cookie exchanges. But it’s actually been several years since I’ve made them, so I was glad to pull out the recipe again and bake some up. The dough mixes up quickly but the dough does require chilling for several hours so keep that in mind. Sometimes I’ll just freeze the dough rolls and pull them out to bake up fresh when I’ve got an occasion to serve them. I hope you enjoy them too!
Santa’s Whiskers
Yield: About 5 dozen cookies3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped candied red/green cherries
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup shredded coconutBeat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat till combined. Beat in milk and vanilla till combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in cherries and pecans. Shape into two 8-inch-long loaves. Roll loaves in coconut. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper; chill 2-24 hours.
Heat oven to 375°F. Cut loaves into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or till edges are golden. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool.
To store baked cookies: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 3 months.
I chose walnuts instead of pecans because that's what I had on hand. Love my food chopper to get it done quickly!
Creaming the butter and sugar.
I LOVE Penzey's for all my spices and extract--Vanilla extract...mmmmm!
The candied red and green cherries ready for chopping.
The food chopper is great for chopping the sticky cherries.
I like to put the coconut in the foil then roll the dough log in it--less mess!
Wrap up the dough logs in foil. They're ready to chill! Label & date if you're going to freeze for later.
Slice the cookies. I like to use a serrated knife--less squashing of the dough!
Are you a blogger that would like to join our blog hop? Then join us every Thursday (or any Thursday you can make it!) from now until December 15th. And if you’re not a blogger or just not up for blogging about it, then join us anyway and fill your freezer.
Each week we’ll be bringing you lots of new inspiring recipes. Put on your baking cap and collect all those recipes from your recipe box, magazine cuttings, cookbooks or online. Now is the time to make those cookies you’ve always wanted to. And feel free to make a bar or even a candy—any sort of sweet treat will do!
TO JOIN/LINK UP: Add your link using the linky tool below. Link-ups require approval so if you don’t see your link appear right away, that is why. When adding a link it MUST be a post dated 2011 and your post must mention the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies blog hop. No links from previous years to any old random Christmas cookie recipe just to get extra traffic to your blog, sorry! If you want to join the blog hop for future weeks and add the thumbnails to your blog for future weeks, please email me and I will send you the code and .jpg image to use. Thanks so much!
Be sure to visit all the other bloggers shown below to see what they’ve baked up today!
There is just all kinds of goodness in these cookies, I love shortbread!
These look fun! I don’t think I have ever had them…something new for me to try for the holidays!
I have really grown to love shortbread based cookies – something I don’t think my 5, 10 or 15 year old self would have ever imagined. I have never had Santa’s Whiskers cookies but I have heard of them before and can’t wait to try them this year.
those look delisious! & so Christmaseee, is that a word LOL LOLthis may have a to be a new one for this year
Oh these are so delicious…I forgot all about them:-) I remember that cookie exchange…oh so many years ago. Just found the recipes that I had saved from it! Thanks for sharing and bringing back fun memories!
Hey Lisa! Yes, it was a long ago MOMS Club exchange that I brought them too. So glad to remind you of those fun memories too! I miss our MOMS Club cookie exchanges….
I LOVE these cookies. They bring back such good memories of my childhood! My grandma made cookies every year for christmas and these were always on the tray. I don’t even like candied cherries but for some reason they just work in this recipe.
Glad to bring back good memories for you! I’m with you though…not normally a big fan of candied fruit in general but these DO totally work in these cookies. Enjoy!
I love the idea of filling the freezer with goodies that you can pull out during those crazy days ahead . . . now if I could just get myself to actually BAKE something, that would be a start! =)
LOL! Well, I’m like you, I always had good intentions (and talked the talk way more than I walked the walk!) but this year, hosting this blog hop, has forced me to get in gear. I’m looking forward to enjoying the benefits in a month or two which will hopefully keep me motivated for years to come.
I love how festive these look! My 4-year old would love anything with “Santa” in the title. We’ll have to give these a try this season!
Oh these are so fun, even the name of them!! I’ll have to add these to my list this year!