A sweet coconut filling layered on a buttery shortbread crust, spread over all, a tangy orange-lemon frosting…
This is a simple bar to make for any coconut lover, and is one of the best treats for this time of year that I can think of.
They're simple, easy to make, chewy, nice and sweet, and loaded with coconut.
If you have a yen for coconut, you can’t go wrong making these!
Coconut Chews
Ingredients:
¾ cup powdered sugar ¾ cup shortening (half butter, softened)* 1½ cups flour 2 eggs 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons flour ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla ½ cup chopped walnuts ½ cup flaked coconut
Method:
Heat oven to 350°. Mix powdered sugar and shortening. Stir in 1½ cups flour. Press in ungreased oblong 13” x 9” pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients. Spread over baked layer. Bake 20 minutes, cool. Frost with Orange-Lemon Frosting, recipe below. Cut into bars, about 3” x 1”. Makes 32 cookies
*Use 6 tablespoons shortening, and 6 tablespoons of butter. That's 12 tablespoons total to equal 3/4 cup.
Orange-Lemon Frosting
1½ cups powdered sugar 2 tablespoons butter, melted 3 tablespoons orange juice 1 teaspoon lemon juice Mix all ingredients until smooth and spread over cooled bars. Printable recipe Enjoy!
Many of you ~ like my family ~ go bananas for anything
chocolate. Not me ~ I go bananas for
caramel and coconut!
These rich cookies are crunchy on the outside and creamy,
maybe a little chewy toward the center, a perfect combination to me. The recipe belongs to Better Homes and Gardens, and I liked it so much, I doubled
it: all the more to share. They’re easy cookies to make and good for the
season.
Ummm, caramel!
N’uff said: If you
like the two, you’ll be addicted to these!
Just make them, and you’ll see…
Caramel-Coconut
Cookies
Ingredients:
½ cup shortening ½ cup butter, softened
½ granulated sugar
½ packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1¾ cups four
36 vanilla caramels, unwrapped*
¼ cup milk
¼ cup shredded coconut, toasted
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and butter with
electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.
Add both sugars, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
Beat in egg, the 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla until
combined.
Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. And
stir in any remaining flour.
Drop dough by level measuring tablespoons 2-inches apart
onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 9 minutes, until edges are slightly browned.
Transfer to a wire rack.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, microwave caramels and the ¼ cup milk
on high until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
Spoon caramel mixture onto cookies.
Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
Transfer to a rack and cool.
Makes 40 cookies
*I use Werther’s Baking Caramels, they’re wrapped in wax
paper and easy to use for baking!
Sometimes I fancy chewing my liquor, instead
of nipping it…
And this is the cookie that meets that
criterion!
This cookie has great flavors ~ Bailey’s
Irish Cream ~ coconut and chocolate.
They taste like Bailey’s and even smell like it. Due to the cake flour, they have a
light texture. This is definitely
a grown-up cookie, with a slight hint of whiskey making them appealing.
Note the large amount of cookies this recipe
makes. They go fast; therefore, I
make 6 dozen at a time ~ halve it, if that suits you better. I like pecans in cookies, but some
family members do not, so I omit them in this recipe. If you like them, add 1
cup of chopped pecans.
These irresistible cookies are a bit boozy,
a bit sweet, and a whole lot tender ~ a perfect Christmas treat for your family
and friends too!
Bailey’s Irish Cream
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup Bailey’s Original Irish Cream
4½ cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1½ cups coconut
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Method:
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugars until fluffy with
electric mixer.
Add eggs and mix well.
Add vanilla and Bailey’s Irish Cream, stirring well.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Mix dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.
Add chocolate chips, coconut and nuts, if desired.
Drop by the teaspoonful onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Cool on sheets for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Makes 6 dozen.
YUMMY!
Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My
Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes!
So… you say you’re a chocolate addict and a coffee lover? Then, there is no reason why you won’t like this coffee cake…
But, even better, you adore a little coconut thrown in the mix? Splendid! A bite of this will surely put you on cloud nine!
Chocolate and Cappuccino Coffee Cake is made with a kitchen staple, “Bisquick.” You know ~ that bright yellow box with the delicious looking pancakes on the front, that’s filled with baking mix. I can’t say that I use it often but, it’s good to know it’s around and handy for quickly stirring up a fresh home- baked goodie.
This coffee cake from Betty Crocker is easy to make and is a great sweet treat for breakfast or as a snack later in the day!
Chocolate and Cappuccino Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
1/3 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
2 cups Original Bisquick
2/3 cup milk or water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee (dry)
Method:
Heat oven to 400ºF.
Grease square pan, 8x8x2 inches.
Mix coconut, nuts, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon butter; set aside.
Beat remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and coffee in large bowl on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.
Beat on medium speed 4 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Pour into pan.
Stir together chocolate and coffee; spoon over batter.
Lightly swirl chocolate mixture through batter several times with knife for marbled design.
Sprinkle coconut mixture evenly over top.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown.
Serve warm.
ENJOY!!!
Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips on Tuesday’s and good and easy recipes every Friday!
I love this time of year as it gives me an excuse to bake a lot of cookies for family and friends. What would Christmas be without cookies?
These Pecan Dreams were my favorite Christmas cookie when I was growing up and to this day ~ they are still my favorite! I could hardly wait for Mom to bake them when I was a kid and I could probably say the same for my brother Jim. I always knew that Christmas was getting really close when Mom would pull out the bag of coconut and the package of pecans. The wafting aroma in the air as they are baking is indescribable! I love coconut and this cookie reeks of coconut!
Mom’s Pecan Dreams has two layers. The light bottom layer made with butter, confectioner’s sugar and flour has an almost cake-like delicious texture. The top layer is a combination of brown sugar, pecans and coconut; common ingredients, but just the perfect combination for a melt in your mouth cookie. They are lip smacking good!!!
These snowballs are like a winter wonderland; they are delectable and you don’t have to do any shoveling!
This is an elegant “heavenly dessert” that Mom prepared for dinner parties during the holidays. I have no idea how she came upon this recipe ~ I just know I love the result! They are soooo delicious if you love sweet luscious pineapple, angel flaked coconut and fresh whipped cream. They look similar to a Hostess Sno Ball, only larger and taste a hundred times better.
The preparation is a little time consuming; however, the good thing is that they can be assembled a day ahead of time. The day before serving, crushed pineapple, chopped pecans and powdered sugar are combined, then spread on 3 stacked vanilla wafers and covered with coconut on serving day. They’re a great “make ahead of time” dessert and scrumptious beyond words!
Snowballs
Ingredients:
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, well drained
½ pound (2 sticks) butter
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 eggs yolks, 4 egg whites
1 cup ground pecans
3 pints whipping cream
Vanilla wafers
Angel flake coconut
1 tablespoon milk
Day before serving:
Drain crushed pineapple. You have to end up squeezing it in your hands.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add egg yolks, nuts and pineapple.
Beat egg whites till stiff.
Fold egg whites into pineapple mixture.
Put 3 vanilla wafers together with pineapple filling: place one wafer on plate, cover liberally with filling, stack another wafer on top, cover liberally with filling, place a third wafer on top of the stack.
Place them in a pan and set in refrigerator overnight.
Next day:
Beat whipping cream until stiff.
Put wafer stack on a spatula.
Cover all but bottom with stiffly beaten whipped cream.
Sprinkle with coconut.
Place in refrigerator till serving time.
Pam’s Notes: This recipe takes 1 ½ boxes of vanilla wafers. The recipe can easily be halved. If you wish, the coconut can be tinted for a festive look: In a baggie, mix 1 tablespoon milk, a couple of drops of red food coloring and 1 package of coconut together. Let dry overnight.
These Hawaiian Cookie Tarts are the perfect excuse for you and me to take a break from a busy day and relax and enjoy one with a steaming cup of coffee!
It’s interesting though that pineapple is neither an apple nor a pine and is not native to Hawaii as we usually think it is. Pineapple is a native of South America and was named for its resemblance to a pine cone. Although it was discovered 3 centuries earlier, the word “pineapple” did not appear in print until 1664. Much later, tasting pineapple for the first time in Barbados in 1751, George Washington declared it his favorite tropical fruit.
Then, around 1770, Captain James Cook introduced pineapple to Hawaii. However, it wasn’t until the 1880’s that commercial cultivation began when steamships made transporting the luscious perishable fruit feasible.
Coconut and pineapple ~ 2 of my favorite things! These Hawaiian Cookie Tarts are down-right tropical because the flaky pastry shell is filled with a bit of pineapple preserves and a layer of gooey coconut dabbed on top of it all. I usually only make them at Christmas time but they would be great any time!
Hawaiian Cookie Tarts
Pastry shell
Ingredients:
3 ½ cups flour
1 cup confectioners sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In large bowl, combine flour,
1 cup confectioners sugar and cornstarch.
Blend well. Add butter and vanilla.
By hand, blend until a soft dough forms.
Shape into 1” balls.
Place 1 ball in each miniature muffin cup. Press in bottom and up sides of each cup.
Filling
Ingredients:
2 cups pineapple preserves
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups coconut
Confectioners sugar
Spoon 1 teaspoon of pineapple preserves into each cup.
In small bowl, combine sugar and egg. Using fork, blend well.
Stir in coconut until well coated with egg mixture.
Spoon 1 teaspoonful coconut mixture over pineapple preserves in each cup.
Bake at 350 degrees for 23-33 minutes, until crusts are very light golden brown.
To release tarts from cups, hold muffin pan upside down on an angle over wire rack. Using a wooden spoon, firmly tap bottom of each cup till cookie releases.
Cool completely.
Just before serving, sprinkle with confectioners sugar.
Mom baked all the time as I was growing up on the farm and we had dessert every evening with supper. To her way of thinking ~ a meal was not complete without dessert. When we had company she went over the top with a sweet ending. Mom baked a multitude of fruit pies, cream pies, tarts, cakes and cookies for us to enjoy.
Our farm house
Mom and I, circa 1950
On the farm, “dinner” was served at noon. Especially during the summer, with many workers helping with the crops on our farm and my grandparents’ also, my mother and grandmother served huge meals for “dinner.” Physical labor consumed many calories on the farm and a welcome “dinner” provided energy and a short rest.
The table was laden with several varieties of meat, always fried or mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables from the garden, casseroles, homemade pickles, fresh bread or rolls, fried sweet corn (my favorite), most generally pies for dessert and sweet tea to wash it all down. There was a LOT of food and Mom and Grandma definitely spent many hours in the kitchen during those days.
Then times changed ~ we moved to Louisville ~ Mom usually only made dessert when we had dinner guests. Going back to the “dinner-supper” thing; I remember to this day when Dad informed me after moving to Louisville that “dinner” was now called “lunch” and “supper” was now called “dinner.” Huh????? But then I drank “pop” in Ohio, a “soft drink” in Louisville, a “soda” up here and don’t remember what it was called when Bill and I lived in Missouri and Germany (beer!)
I generally only make dessert when the “kids” or others are here. There are always cookies in the cookie jar though and through the summer, they’re store bought. But come this time of year, I love to bake cookies and enjoy one every morning with a cup of coffee and so does Bill. There’s nothing like the aroma in the air as they’re baking and these cookies are loaded with good things for a nearly perfect cookie! Hope you try them!
Loaded Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup chocolate chip chunks
1 cup flaked coconut
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Stir into butter and sugar mixture.
Add remaining ingredients and combine well.
Place cookies 2” apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes until edges are golden.
Allow them to rest on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a rack for cooling.
Makes 5 dozen
Pam’s note: For a thicker cookie, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before baking cookies. They make take a while longer to bake with the chilled dough.
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