All three friends watched as the coin landed and then Norman began to grin. “It’s tails,” he announced.
“I know.” Mike picked it up and flipped it again.
“Tails,” Norman chose for the third time.
Hannah found that she was holding her breath as the coin began to fall. She didn’t really care which recipe she made, but she’d never had anyone flip a coin to choose a cookie before!
“Tails!” Mike said with a disgusted sigh. “Okay, Hannah. It’s the coconut one. And I was all set for chocolate.”
That gave Hannah an idea. “Then you both win. You can have Coconut Snow Cookies plain, or I can make sandwich cookies out of them with Nutella in the middle.”
“Sounds great!” Mike looked very pleased. “You’re right, Hannah. Looks like we both won.”
COCONUT SNOW COOKIES
DO NOT preheat oven—dough must chill before baking.
2 cups melted butter (4 sticks, 16 ounces, 1 pound)
2 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar (don’t sift unless it’s got big lumps and then you shouldn’t use it anyway)
1 cup flaked coconut (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1 cup white (granulated) sugar 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar (critical!)
1 teaspoon salt
4 and ? cups flour (don’t sift—pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
? cup powdered (confectioners’) sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
? cup flaked coconut (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl or in a saucepan over LOW heat on the stovetop. Set it aside off the heat to cool while you complete the next few steps.
Place the powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender.)
Measure out the flaked coconut and add that on top of the powdered sugar in the food processor or blender.
Process the powdered sugar and coconut in on/off motion with the steel blade. Continue until the coconut has been ground down into very small pieces.
Add the cup of white granulated sugar
Crack open the eggs and place them in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add the eggs and mix them together until everything is a uniform color.
Feel the sides of the container with the melted butter. If it’s not so hot it might cook the eggs, you will be able to work with it now. If it feels too hot to you, sit down, have a cup of coffee, and wait until the butter is cool enough to add to the egg mixture.
With the mixer running on LOW, slowly pour the melted butter into the bowl of the mixer. Continue to mix until it is well combined.
Mix in the vanilla extract and the coconut extract.
Add the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
Remember the food processor with the powdered sugar and coconut mixture? Take the bowl out of the food processor and with the mixer running on LOW, add the powdered sugar and coconut mixture to the contents of your bowl. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
Hannah’s 1st Note: Don’t bother to wash the bowl of your food processor or blender. You will be using it again for the exact same ingredients.
Again, with the mixer running on LOW, add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Cover your Coconut Snow Cookie dough with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Chill it for at least one hour. (Overnight is fine, too.)
When you’re ready to bake, take the bowl of dough out of the refrigerator and set it on the kitchen counter to warm a bit.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. with the rack in the middle position.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: While the oven is preheating to the proper temperature, you will prepare your cookie sheets and make another powdered sugar and coconut mixture in that food processor or blender that you didn’t wash.
Prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another cooking spray or, alternatively, lining them with parchment paper.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: I prefer to use parchment paper to line my cookie sheets. That way, all I have to do when I take the cookies from the oven is to grab the edge of the parchment paper and pull it, cookies and all, over to a wire rack to cool the cookies.
Place the powdered sugar in the bowl of your food processor or blender.
Measure out the flaked coconut and add that to the powdered sugar.
Process with the steel blade in an on-and-off motion until the coconut has been cut into very small pieces.
Place the powdered sugar and coconut mixture in a shallow bowl. You will use it to coat the cookie dough balls that you will roll.
Use your impeccably clean hands to roll the dough in walnut-sized balls.
Place the balls, one at a time, in the bowl with the powdered sugar and coconut mixture and roll them around until they are coated.
Place the balls on your prepared cookie sheets, 12 balls to a standard-size cookie sheet.
Flatten the dough balls with the back of a metal spatula or the palm of your impeccably clean hand. The dough balls will spread out in nice circles that are approximately 3 inches in diameter.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 13 minutes. (The cookies should have a tinge of gold on the top.)
Cool your Coconut Snow Cookies on the cookie sheets by placing them on cold stovetop burners or wire racks. Cool this way for 2 to 3 minutes and then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies themselves to the wire racks.
Hannah’s 4th Note: If you used parchment paper, just grab the edge and pull it over to the wire racks.
Yield: approximately 10 dozen crunchy, buttery, sugary cookies, which will make 4 to 5 dozen Coconut Snow Sandwich Cookies.
Hannah’s 5th Note: You can eat these cookies just the way they are and they’re delicious. But you can also make them into fabulous sandwich cookies. Instructions follow on the next page.
COCONUT SNOW SANDWICH COOKIES
1 jar of Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
Open the jar of Nutella and spread the bottom of one cookie with the chocolate-hazelnut spread.
Place the other cookie, bottom down, on top of the Nutella filling.
Repeat above instructions for all of your cookies.
Store in a cookie jar or box in the pantry or cupboard. You can also refrigerate, but you’ll take the chance of having your sandwich cookies get soggy.
Hannah’s 1st Note: The following list suggests other spreads you can use in these Coconut Snow Sandwich Cookies
Any flavor of jam—use a thin layer or it will squeeze out between the cookie halves. To solve this problem, mix a little powdered (confectioners’) sugar into the jam so that it is thicker and will maintain its shape.
Any flavor of jelly – a thick layer or it will squeeze out between the cookie halves. To solve this problem, mix a little powdered (confectioners’) sugar into the jelly so that it is thicker and will maintain its shape.
Cashew Butter
Peanut Butter
Almond Butter
Commercial frosting, the kind that you’ll find on the baking aisle
Melted semi-sweet chocolate chips thickened with a little powdered (confectioners’) sugar
Melted butterscotch chips thickened with a little powdered (confectioners’) sugar
Melted milk chocolate chips thickened with a little powdered (confectioners’) sugar
Melted peanut butter chips thickened with a little powdered (confectioners’) sugar
Melted white chocolate or vanilla chips thickened with a little powdered (confectioners’) sugar
Hannah’s 2nd Note: Believe it or not, Mike likes cheddar cheese spread between his cookies. Feel free to try it, but no one else I know seems to like Coconut Snow Sandwich Cookies that way!
Chapter Eighteen