Lemon Coconut Snowball Cookies

Let me start off by saying, this recipe is neither healthy nor low points+...but I do believe that indulging should be part of everyone's life occasionally.  It's been snowing flurries here for the last few days...dark and cloudy with light airy flakes that cover the grass, but don't interfere with travel and since it is December already ( yikes!  that came quickly didn't it? ) I decided yesterday was the perfect time to get a jump on my holiday baking. So I donned my holiday cookie baking apron, turned on some Trans Siberian Orchestra, and got to work.   I like to bake at least 5 - 10 different types of cookies, mostly to give away as gifts.

I have said it before, baking really is my passion, and it all started with holiday cookie baking when I was about 13.  Neither my mother nor my grandmother were bakers, but for some reason I got so much enjoyment out of it, I have kept honing in on my baking skills over the years self teaching with successes and failures along the way.  When I came across a cookie recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod , I knew after reading the ingredients, I really wanted to give it a try.  The original recipe called for lime, but I substituted lemon with very positive results.  These cookies are very festive looking and the dough is a dream to work with.  You will need a stand mixer though, because there is quite a bit of mixing involved.  Unlike all the other recipes I post here, I will not provide points nor nutritional information for these cookies.  Bake them, enjoy them in moderation, share them with friends and family.  The entire recipe makes approx. 2 -3 doz. 1" cookies. 

Lemon Coconut Snowball Cookies adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients: 

For Butter Cookie Dough-

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour ( such as King Arthur ) 

Zest of one lemon

3/4 cup of granulated sugar, which has been pulsed in the food processor for about 20 seconds

1/4 tsp. salt

16 TBS. unsalted butter ( 2 sticks ), cut into 16 1/2 inch pieces at cool room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 TBS. ( 1 oz. ) cream cheese, at room temperature  ( I used light, and it was fine ) 

For Frosting-

1 TBS. ( 1/2 oz. ) cream cheese, at room temperature ( again, used light with no problems )

approx. 1 TBS. fresh squeezed lemon juice ( I didn't measure, just squeezed the juice from one lemon )

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, pulsed in food processor until finely chopped

Directions:

1.  For the cookies:   Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle beater, mix flour, zest, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined.  With mixer running on low, drop in the butter one piece at a time slowly; and continue to mix until the mixtures looks slightly wet and crumbly.  Add vanilla and cream cheese and mix on low until dough just comes together.  ( Like magic, it will eventually look like the picture above!  ) 

2.  With hands, roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet.  ( I ALWAYS bake my cookies on parchment...makes clean up easy and makes a wonderful nonstick surface for them.  I imagine you could bake them without the parchment if you wanted or needed to, and just give the cookie sheet a spritz of cooking spray between batches. )   Bake one batch at a time in oven until lightly browned, about 12 minutes.  Remove to wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature.  

3.  For the frosting:  In the same bowl you mixed the cookies in, with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese and the lemon juice on low until incorporated.  Add in the confectioners sugar and mix on low until a nice thick glaze like frosting appears.  

4.  Dip tops of cookies into frosting, or use a knife to spread the top, then dip the cookies into the coconut.  Allow the cookies to sit and allow the frosting to set.  About 20 minutes.  

Enjoy!!  :)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Looking for more citrus inspired cookie recipes?  Try these: 
Sunny Citrus Sugar Cookies from Dizzy, Busy, and Hungry