Santa's Whiskers   From The Cookie Party Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Hosting a Cookie Exchange St. Martin's Press/Macmillan by Robin Olson (www.cookie-exchange.com) An old fashioned vanilla flavored ice box cookie embedded with nuts, candied cherries in red and green and rolled in coconut for 'Santa's Whiskers'.

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1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¼ cups all-purpose flour plus 2 teaspoons for coating the cherries

1½ cups red and green candied cherries, quartered
¾ cup pecans, chopped
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Using an electric mixer, combine the butter, granulated sugar, confectioners’ sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl and beat well. Gradually add the flour, and continue beating until well blended. In a small bowl, coat the cherries with the 2 teaspoons of flour.

Stir the cherries and pecans into the dough. Shape the dough into 3 or 4 logs, using wax paper. Roll each log in the flaked coconut, wrap tightly, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the logs into ¼-inch slices with a sharp knife. Place the slices, 1 inch apart, on the lined baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Makes 5 dozen cookies