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Christmas: Coconut Snowballs

Source of Recipe

From "Cold Weather Cooking" by Sarah Leah Chase


Recipe Introduction

"Three favorite flavors of Christmas abound in these buttery morsels�lemon, orange, and coconut. The glistening sugar coating recalls one of the most poetic lines from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas: 'The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave the luster of midday to objects below."

List of Ingredients

◦ 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
◦ � cup sugar, plus additional for coating
◦ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
◦ Pinch of salt
◦ 2 � cups unbleached all-purpose flour
◦ 1 � cups flaked coconut, lightly toasted
◦ 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
◦ 1 tablespoon grated orange zest


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 375� F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and � cup sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and salt. Gradually stir in the flour to make a fairly stiff dough. Work in the coconut and citrus zests until evenly distributed. Shape the dough into small balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place in rows about � inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake until the bottoms of the cookies just begin to take on a hint of color, about 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool a minute or two, then roll in a shallow dish of sugar to coat. Cool completely and store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Makes about 4 � dozen cookies