The holiday baking list fills up fast, and a cookie you can make ahead earns a spot on mine. Santa's Whiskers fit that need. You mix the dough, shape it into logs, and let it chill overnight. The next day is just slicing and baking.
These are buttery slice-and-bake cookies, dotted with red and green candied cherries and chopped pecans. Each log gets rolled in coconut before chilling, so every slice has a coconut edge that toasts lightly in the oven.
The recipe comes from my mom's recipe box. I don't remember her making these, but she wrote "very good" in the corner of the card. Over the years I've learned to trust that note. After my first batch, I agree with her. To quote one of my taste tasters: "a cookie without chocolate will have trouble being called the best." I agree, but this one comes pretty darn close!
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Ingredients needed for Santa's Whiskers
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla extract (the card also lists rum as an option)
- All-purpose flour
- Red and green candied cherries (the kind sold in tubs for holiday baking, not maraschino cherries)
- Pecans
- Sweetened flaked coconut
The only changes I made to the recipe card were using butter instead of margarine, and vanilla instead of rum.
How to Make Santa's Whiskers
Mix the dough
Start by chopping the candied cherries and pecans fine. The cherries are sticky, so a sharp knife helps.
Beat the butter and sugar together, then add the milk, vanilla, and flour, in that order. Stir in the cherries and pecans by hand. I'll admit I sneaked a taste of the dough, and it was really good. A very promising sign!
Shape and chill the logs
Before shaping, chill the dough for a short time. My mom's card had a note about chilling, but I wasn't sure at first which step it meant. For my first batch, I refrigerated the dough until it felt cold to the touch. That was too long, and the coconut didn't stick well to the logs.
For my second batch, I followed her note: 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. That worked perfectly. The dough was firm enough to shape, and the coconut stuck.
Divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll each into a log about 7 inches long and 2 inches across. Roll each log in coconut, then wrap it in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Slice and bake
The overnight chill makes the logs very firm, and that's what you want. My slices held their round shape with no trouble.
My mom's card calls for ¼-inch slices, which is really thin! When I baked a second batch, I tried slices of different thicknesses. The thin slices gave the best texture. The shortbread-style dough bakes up pleasantly crisp, and the candied cherries give every bite a little chew. It's a great contrast.
Thicker slices come out much softer, almost to the point of seeming underbaked. If you prefer thicker cookies, add a couple of minutes to the bake time to get the texture you want.
Place the slices on an ungreased baking sheet (I use parchment paper, just out of habit) and bake at 375°F for 10 minutes. The coconut edges come out lightly toasted. The centers will still be slightly soft when you take them out of the oven, and you'll notice it as you move them to a cooling rack. Don't worry. They firm up as they cool.
My mom's card says the recipe makes 60 to 70 cookies at ¼-inch slices. My first batch was sliced a little thicker, about 15 slices per log, which gave me roughly 45 cookies. I haven't baked a full batch at one thickness yet, so your count will depend on how thick you cut them.
Serving suggestions and variations
These belong on a Christmas cookie tray. The red and green cherries show through in many of the slices, so they look festive next to the other cookies. They make a great contrast to French cookies or Peanut Butter Balls, to name a few.
The card lists rum extract as an alternative to vanilla, and I'd like to try almond extract too. I haven't tested either one yet.
Storage
Store Santa's Whiskers in an airtight container at room temperature. They've never lasted more than a week at my house, and they were still good at the end of it. Similar butter cookies often keep a bit longer, but I can't vouch for that personally.
The baked cookies freeze well. I froze some from my first batch in an airtight container. After almost three weeks, I took a few out and let them thaw on a small plate. They were delicious, and the texture was still great. The chewy pieces of cherry really stood out.
Slice-and-bake logs are also often frozen before baking. I haven't tried that yet, but I plan to.
📖 Recipe
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Santa's Whiskers
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 TB milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or rum extract
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ¾ cup candied cherries, red and green chopped
- ½ cup fine chopped pecans
- ¾ cup coconut
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar
- Add the milk and vanilla and beat well.2 TB milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour and beat until well mixed.2 ½ cups flour
- Stir in the cherries and pecans.¾ cup candied cherries, red and green, ½ cup fine chopped pecans
- Chill the dough in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, then roll into 3 logs, about 7 inches long each.
- Roll in coconut, wrap in plastic, and chill overnight.¾ cup coconut
- Next day, cut into ¼-inch slices and bake on an ungreased pan at 375F for 10 minutes.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
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