Coconut - Orange Snowballs

In true holiday spirit, the last cookies we chose to make for the party are called snowball cookies!
They look like little balls of snow, but taste like a mix between a powdered donut and citrus / coconut cookie - delish!
The cookies are actually dusted with powdered sugar twice. This first picture was taken after the first dose of powdered sugar. As soon as the cookies came out of the oven we rolled them in the powdered sugar.

After letting the cookies cool, we sprinkled even more powdered sugar to give them the true snowball effect. My kitchen was covered in powdered sugar by the end, but it was easy to clean and totally worth it. These little treasures taste just like they fell from heaven.
I didn't have any coconut extract, so I substituted lemon extract for a little extra citrus kick. The combination of the orange peel, lemon, and coconut create fireworks in your mouth - these cookies are a must have for any holiday party.

Recipe to follow...

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon coconut extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon salt

Methods:

1) Preheat oven to 350*F. Bake coconut on rimmed baking sheet until light golden, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.

2) Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and both extracts in bowl to blend well. Beat in flour, orange peel, and salt. Stir in coconut. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Soften sough slightly before shaping.

3) Preheat oven to 350*F. line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. using 1 tablespoon dough for each cookie, roll dough between palms of hands into balls. Place on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until golden on bottom but pale on top, about 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; cool 5 minutes. Place remaining 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar in bowl. Roll hot cookies in powdered sugar, covering completely. Cool cookies on rack. Roll cookies in powdered sugar again, coating generously

Recipe courtesy of: Epicurous December, 2003

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

For my first endeavor I decided to try a simple banana bread out of Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2008. The bread is pictured in the first few pages and it looks so yummy... who wouldn't want to make it? -->

Although this recipe looked reasonably easy, I just moved into a new apartment so everything is an experiment. The major problem I encountered was baking time. The directions say to bake the bread at 350* for an hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Unfortunately when it came time to insert the pick, I realized I don't have any toothpicks...

After an hour of baking, the bread had risen nicely and was beginning to brown on the top, so I took it out of the oven. When I stuck a fork in the top it was still pretty gooey, so I put it back in the oven for about 5 minutes. The buzzer went off and I checked it again only to find that the top was even darker and the middle was STILL gooey. After 5 more minutes (1 hour 10 minutes total baking time) I gave up and let it cool.

The banana bread came out OK, but didn't really look like the bread pictured in the book. The crust was very crunchy and the middle still kinda moist and even gooey. The flavor was yummy and sweet with a little tang from the lime juice. One piece was more than enough for me, so I donated it to my brother's college friends who enjoyed it thoroughly.

I don't think I will be making this banana bread again, but I definitely need to experiment with my oven more and buy some toothpicks!