Merry Christmas Eve Eve!  🙂  Matt and I kicked off our holiday cooking last week by baking dozens of Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Cookie Sticks.  We chose coconut cookies because I have fond memories of making a similar cookie with my mom years ago so I thought it would be fun to recreate them this year.  I don’t have my mom’s original recipe so I used this recipe from Vesta Vamps and it was perfect!  The cookies turned out buttery, crisp and chocolatey and they looked great “wrapped” in mason jars with red bows.  We shared several jars with friends and family and still have a couple dozen left over for ourselves.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Cookie Sticks (from Vesta Vamps)

You will need…
1 pound (4 sticks) Butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt
3 Egg Yolks
2 teaspoons Vanilla
4 2/3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 bag (approx. 5 1/2 cups) Sweeted Coconut Flakes
16 oz. Semisweet Chocolate, roughly chopped

Directions:
In a stand mixer beat together the butter, sugar and salt until light a fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes.  Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time and add the vanilla.  Beat until smooth, then add in the flour in small increments and mix until combined.  Scoop the dough out of the bowl with your hands and form into two dough balls.

Meanwhile, empty the bag of coconut out onto a large rimmed cookie sheet and place in a preheated 350° oven.  Toast the coconut for 15-18 minutes until golden brown, stirring frequently.  Remove the toasted coconut from the oven and allow to cool.

Place one of the dough balls and half of the toasted coconut into the mixer bowl.  Mix until combined and then remove the dough from the bowl and divide in half.  Use your hands to form each dough half into rectangles that measure approximately 18 in. long by 5 in. wide and 1/2-3/4 in. tall.  Place the dough rectangles onto parchment paper and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  Repeat this step with the second half of the dough; you should end up with 4 chilled rectangles.

Cut the chilled dough into cookie sticks that are approximately 1/2 inch wide.  Roll the dough slightly between your palms to create a round cookie (or leave it flat to create more of a biscotti-type shape) and place the dough sticks onto a non-stick cookie sheet.  Bake each batch of sticks in a preheated 350° oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.  Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes and then carefully transfer them to cooling racks until they cool completely.

Place the chopped chocolate in a double boiler bowl over simmering water and stir until it melts.  Dip the end of each cookie into the chocolate mixture, scrape any excess chocolate off on the side of the bowl, and place each of the cookies on parchment paper to cool.

This makes about 120 cookies and they are perfect to share with friends and family around the holidays!