THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

COCOANUT COOKIES. – One cup sugar, half cup butter, one egg, two tablespoons milk, one and a half teaspoon of SILVER CREAM BAKING POWDER,  and a little salt, one cup desiccated or grated cocoanut, enough flour to roll.

~Dalley’s Canadian Almanac. Hamilton: Spectator Printing Company, 1890.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• ½ c. butter
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 2 Tb. milk
• 1 c. flaked coconut
• 1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and salt.  Lightly beat the egg with a fork, and add it to the creamed mixture.  Beat with a spoon to combine thoroughly.

Add the milk, and stir in, blending well.

Add the coconut, and beat in thoroughly.

Sift the flour and baking powder together, and add to the dough mixture.  Beat well to combine thoroughly.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness, using a floured rolled pin.

Using a 2-inch diameter cooked cutter, cut into circles, and place the cookies, well-spaced, on greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.  

Yield: about three dozen cookies.

These have a delightful taste and texture.

A note from Patricia: My stove broke, which is not ideal when you’re trying to prepare and photograph recipes to post online twice a week. What’s more, the part needed for the repair is backordered for a few weeks. YIKES! However, I’m trying to make the best of it. I’ve pulled out the air-fryer, instant pot, and my toaster oven, and I figured I could make cookies in the toaster oven (why not?!?), so today I gave that a whirl. I picked this old-fashioned coconut cookie recipe, and made these in small batches (keeping the uncooked cut-out cookies in the freezer until it was their turn to be cooked). I made the smart decision to just make half the recipe so that I wasn’t baking cookies all day long, as it required 4 little batches in my toaster oven. Shockingly, the cookies turned out wonderfully, so yes you CAN bake cookies in the toaster oven in a pinch. I used 1:1 gluten-free baking flour in place of the all-purpose flour, and it worked out just fine, but I did put the dough in the fridge for a bit before rolling it out to make it less sticky. For shapes, I went with a diamond, moon, oval and a ‘club’ shape – perfect for any time of the year. These coconut cookies were light and tasty and crispy, and they are a dream for any coconut-lovers in your family. I’m definitely going to be adding this recipe to my holiday cookie baking extravaganza, as they were everything a cookie should be.

Tin forms or cutters to cut little cakes into various shapes may easily be made at home. Get narrow strips of tin from a tinsmith. These strips should be about three-quarters of an inch wide; then cut off the length desired for the form. With the fingers bend and shape this narrow strip until it is the desired shape, then pinch the two ends over one another like a seam and the form is complete. These cutters do not require a handle or top; the sides alone are sufficient to cut out any animal desired. Figures of crows, elephants, birds, squirrels, dogs and cats, or the figure of Santa Claus, are easily made out of these simple strips of tin. However these forms may be secured at many stores, and at a very reasonable price.

~Karn, W. A. The Art of Cooking Made Easy. Woodstock, 1903.