Santa's Whiskers Cookies are slice and bake cookies bejeweled with candied cherries and coconut. They are fun, festive and perfect for a Christmas cookie exchange!
Doesn't the name Santa's Whiskers Cookies sound so fun?
They are slice and bake cookies bejeweled with candied cherries and coconut <--- Red and White just the way Saint Nicholas is!!!
Traditionally, these cookies are made with both red and green candied cherries, but I went with just red to keep it Red and White. You can include both colors if you wish so.
Santa's Whiskers Cookies are-
- Easy slice and bake cookie recipe like this Christmas Icebox Cookies
- Fun
- Sweet
- One bowl recipe
- Eggless recipe
- Freezes well
- Perfect for Christmas cookie exchange
- Holiday cookie box
Main ingredients:
Classic cookie basics - Butter, Sugar, Vanilla, Milk, Flour
Festive add-ins - Candied cherries and shredded coconut
How to make Santa's milk and cookies?
Cream unsalted butter, sugar, milk and vanilla extract together with hand held electric beater, until smooth and creamy. Beat in flour and then followed by chopped candied cherries and shredded coconut.
Shape dough into a log and roll in more shredded coconut, until the entire surface area is covered with coconut. Wrap and chill the dough log overnight or until completely firm.
Slice the dough into ¼-inch thick slices and bake at 350 degrees, until golden brown. Cool completely.
Expert tips:
Candied cherries can be found during the Holiday season, in plastic containers, in the produce section of all major grocery stores.
Unsweetened shredded coconut is recommended since the cookie is sweetened from both sugar and candied cherries. But, if can't find it then go ahead with sweetened coconut.
Chill the dough until very firm. This usually takes several hours (overnight is recommended) or the dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Chopped toasted pecans can to added instead ¼ cup shredded coconut in the dough.
Storage instructions:
Santa's whiskers Cookies can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days.
To freeze - Place baked and cooled cookies in a large zip lock bag, seal and freeze for up to a month. Place the zip lock at room temperature overnight to thaw.
Gift Giving ideas:
1. Place Santas whisker cookies in a decorative Christmas cookie tin (I found this adorable one from our neighborhood Dollar Tree), lined with parchment paper.
2. Wrap a few of them in transparent cellophane bags and tie with a pretty ribbon.
3. Place a few cookies in glass mason jar (again, Dollar tree is a great place to find cute ones at affordable price), decorate the lid with a pretty cut outs from old Christmas cards and tied a pretty ribbon around it.
Santa' s Whiskers Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature (½ cup)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ cup chopped red candied cherries
- ¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut divided
Instructions
Make dough
- Add first 4 ingredients (butter, sugar, milk and vanilla) into a large bowl and beat with a hand held electric beater (on high speed, for about 2 minutes), until smooth and creamy.
- Add flour and continue beating for few seconds, until it looks crumbly.
- Add chopped cherries and ¼ cup coconut, continue beating just for few seconds, until it is mixed in (over mixing will make cherries bleed and dye the dough pink).
- Dump dough onto a work surface, gently shape into a log and continue rolling to make into 2 and ½ inch thickness (just approximate measure will do).
- Roll the logs in remaining ½ cup shredded coconut (the log can be divided into two, to make it easier to work with). Wrap logs in plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days (I like to leave mine overnight), until completely firm.
Bake
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove log from fridge, unwrap and place on a work surface. Using a sharp knife, cut into slightly thicker than ¼-inch thick slices and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about ¾-inch apart (cookie will not spread too much).
- Bake for 22 to 26 minutes (rotating pan halfway through baking) or until cookies are golden brown in color. Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
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