coconut snowflakes

ahhh.... this is one of my traditional christmas cookies. and of the few brian actually requests! so wont he be happy to come home tonight to find that i am making them today for our MOPS meeting tomorrow. honestly, brian and i just didnt get enough of these over christmas! (and a friend requested the recipe to turn them into hearts for valentines day!)

now i love the flavor of coconut, but dislike the texture of the fruit- so these are perfect for me since you use a coconut extract for the flavoring. and i also love an easy cookie recipe- and what could be easier then starting with a package of refrigerated sugar cookie dough? (i love anything "semi-homemade") fyi- this is a recipe from parents magazine.

cookie:
1 tube (16.5 oz) sugar cookie dough
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp cocnut extract

glaze:
1 cup confectioners/powdered sugar
4 tsp milk
1/2 tsp coconut extract

piping:
1 cup confectioners/powdered sugar
3 tsp milk
fine white decorating sugar *i think the wilton (from michael's) sprinkles are great "snow" for these cookies. it is 'white sparkling sugar' and rather corse, but looks perfect!

1. heat oven to 350

2. in bowl, knead together cookie ingredients. roll between 2 sheets of waxed paper to a 1/4 inch thickness. place on baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes

3.remove chilled dough, remove top layer of wax paper. cut into desired shape with cookie cutter. place cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. reroll scraps and cut into shapes- refrigerate again if dough becomes too soft to work with

4. bake 350 for 8 minutes. DO NOT BROWN! cookies should be set and puffed. allow to cool on cookie sheet 1 minute to avoid breaking, then continue to cool on a wire rack.

5. make glaze in a small bowl- mix with spoon until good spreading consistancy. spread onto cookie and let dry.

6. mix piping in a small bowl- pipe ontop of glaze a snowflake pattern using lines, arrow points, small dots, etc. (use piping bag or ziplock bag with corner cut off) sprinkle with decorating sugar before piping dries.

makes 24 cookies