It’s Christmas time, so let’s make some cookies!
And since we are making vintage cookies here, let’s pull out my family’s favorite: Coconut Top Hats!
AuthorRetroRuth
From Wisconsin Energies, 1977
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Cream butter, add sugar gradually and then beat in yolk and vanilla. Blend in flour and salt. Shape dough in 1o inch roll and wrap in wax paper. Chill overnight.
Combine coconut topping ingredients. Chill.
Cut chilled cookie dough into ⅛ inch slices. Shape 1 tsp coconut mixture to fit cookie. Baked 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.
Remove cookies from pan. Place 1 tsp melted chocolate on top of a cooled cookie. Decorate with a cherry half.
Ingredients
Directions
Cream butter, add sugar gradually and then beat in yolk and vanilla. Blend in flour and salt. Shape dough in 1o inch roll and wrap in wax paper. Chill overnight.
Combine coconut topping ingredients. Chill.
Cut chilled cookie dough into ⅛ inch slices. Shape 1 tsp coconut mixture to fit cookie. Baked 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.
Remove cookies from pan. Place 1 tsp melted chocolate on top of a cooled cookie. Decorate with a cherry half.
Notes
These are pretty much my mom’s signature Christmas cookie. I made dozens and dozens of these when I was growing up for cookie plates for friends, neighbors and the mailman.
Family legend has it that my mom made these for the first time when she was pregnant with my older sister. My parents only had one car, so one day when my dad was at work and my mom was snowed in and stuck in the house, she decided she would bake every single cookie in the electric company holiday baking book that had come in the mail the previous day.
My dad came home from work to find my pregnant mother covered with flour and powdered sugar and every single available level space in their tiny house covered with cooling cookies. She promptly moved a bunch of cookies, sat him down with a glass of milk and made him try every single kind so he could tell her which ones he liked the best. Coconut Top Hats were easily his favorite.
You know, that story actually sounds a lot like Tom and me. Huh. I never really thought of that before.
In any case, watch me force my husband to taste something to let you all know if it’s good or not.
“I always love these.”
The Verdict: Holiday-Tastic
From The Tasting Notes –
These are a bit on the fussy side for Christmas cookies, but the effort is most definitely worth it. They look adorable and they are delicious. The base is a butter cookie with a caramel undertone from the brown sugar. The chocolate and coconut topping are great together, and the cherry adds a sweet note without being overpowering. Overall, pretty much the perfect Christmas cookie. Add extra chocolate drizzle if you are a choco-holic.
These look PHENOMENAL.
These are now on my cookie baking list for this year. They look amazing! Last year I did the vintage pecan/cheesecake pie thing from your site for Christmas dinner and it was such a hit I made another for New Years.
I suspect these will also go down well with my family and friends.
I can’t with coconut this year. My mother, I swear, tried to use all the available coconut in the country last Christmas. This year I’m doing brownies for Christmas (Thanksgiving was fruitcake, which…well, it’s fruitcake. There is no such thing as a small batch of fruit cake, so we still have plenty of cake.) And no one is doing cookies. (Yes, I did consider using the cottage cheese brownies recipe…)
Kate! Did you see these yet? These are my fav of the Christmas brownie type things I’ve made over the years: http://www.midcenturymenu.com/2012/12/chocolate-cherry-chews-with-cherry-chip-frosting-the-10-days-of-vintage-christmas-cookies/
No cookies, huh? I don’t know. I think I would cave and make some gingerbread men. 🙂
These remind me of a vintage cookie recipe that is a butter cookie with chopped candied cherries which is shaped into logs and rolled in coconut then sliced and baked. One of our favorites!