Coconut Macaroons

10th in my series of Christmas Cookies.

This may not be an extremely unique addition to my assortment of cookies, but it's a favorite.

5 cups flaked coconut

2/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Optional: Melted semi-sweet chocolate to drizzle zigzag across the finished cookies

Makes 3-4 dozen macaroons

****************************

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.

In your mixing bowl, combine the coconut, salt and flour, mixing well to disperse the flour.

Add the can of condensed milk. Make sure that you scrape out every precious drop from the can. Your small rubber spatula will be indispensable for this job. Add vanilla at this point also.

Mix well, making sure everything is lifting off the bottom of the bowl. Stop to stir it up a bit by hand of the mixer seems to be missing some dry flour or coconut on the bottom of the bowl.

Drop by Tablespoons full on the parchment lined sheet. I use my cookie scoop. These do not puff up or change size while baking. If you do NOT use parchment, you will need to grease your cookie sheet. No need to grease parchment. Yet another good reason to use parchment.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Let cool completely and zigzag melted chocolate across the cookies, if you desire. 

Chocolate Filled Poppy Seed Cookies

9th in the series of Christmas Cookies

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons poppy seeds

2 cups flour

Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Makes 4+ dozen

****************************

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Add salt and poppy seeds, mix well.

Add flour.

Chill overnight or until firm.

Heat oven to 375*F.

Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Last year, I melted the chocolate chips and piped a drop into an indentation in the baked cookie that I'd made before baking. THIS year, I pushed a chocolate chip into the top of each cookie BEFORE baking. It looks the same. I'm all for simplifying.... put a cold chocolate chip into the top of the cookie before baking. :)

Bake for 9-11 minutes. They should only be just slightly browned on the bottom as they are done. Don't over bake them. 

Pecan Fingers

5th cookie the series.

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon water

2 cups flour

2 cups ground pecans

Powdered sugar for rolling

Makes 4 1/2 dozen

***********************************

Directions:

I grind my pecans in the food processor. If you find them already ground, they will be much more expensive than necessary. And grinding them in the processor is a snappy job, very fast.

In the mixing bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

Blend in vanilla, salt and water.

Add flour and ground pecans. Mix well.

Chill dough until firm. I leave it in there overnight.

Heat oven to 325*F

I measure out the cookies with my small scoop, but even THAT is too large. I cut the balls in half and roll those into the fingers. They should be only about one and a half inches long. Place cookies on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake 14-15 minutes. They should just be barely browned around the edges. Allow to cool slightly. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar until well coated.

I cut the scooped balls in half. They come out being two bite cookies. Anything bigger and they are TOO large.

Easily shaped in one hand. About 1.5 inches long. They puff up a bit while baking.

Two dozen per cookie sheet. :)

Roll them in powdered sugar after baking. YUM!

They will be a nice sugary addition to my cookie plates!