Christmas Cookies: Santa's Whiskers

Santa has whiskers.  They are long and form a beard.  These cookies are named for Santa's beard but the whiskers are represented by coconut in which the cookie is rolled.   If the cookie is done  right the coconut stick out from the finished cookie and it suggests that Santa got too close to the open hearth and singed the ends of his beard.

Santa Whisker Cookies made from a log

Santa's Whiskers, a colorful cookie, not only has coconut but is full of green and red candied cherries that are diced into small pieces.  Because of the red cherries the cookie takes on a pink coloring.  Adding to the richness of the cookie are diced pecans.  With the coconut, pecans and cherries the cookie has a unique taste that begs to be added to the Christmas Cookie Table.

Diced Green & Red Candied Cherries & Pecan Bits

Mixing the dough takes less than 15 minutes using the spatula tool on my KitchenAid Mixer.  Then it is divided into logs and rolled in the coconut flakes before placing in the refrigerator to get the log ready for cutting.  I left my cookies in the refrigerator about a half an hour and the log was set enough for me to use my two handled cheese block cutter to make the slices.

Dough log rolled in coconut

Once the cookies came out of the oven I left them on the pans to cool before placing them in a Tupperware square keeper with wax paper between the layers.  These cookies will keep well because of the candied fruit that is in the cookie.

I've made my Santa Whisker Cookies this way year after year.

Santa Whisker Cookies made into Balls

Recently when I was looking at a cooking site I found a variation of this same cookie but the recipe called for making the dough into balls and then rolling the balls in coconut.  You then bake the balls for 15 minutes at 350 deg to get a slightly browned effect on the coconut.  I think I'll give this variation a try this year.

That's our Christmas cookie for today.  The link to the recipe can be found above.  Come back tomorrow when we will be making another of my favorites for the holiday.