Here we are almost at Thanksgiving weekend already.  Crazy!  I feel like it came out of nowhere this year.  Normally, my cousin Janna hosts Thanksgiving dinner at her house and we do Christmas dinner at ours.  But with so many of the crew having to work this weekend we’re going to do a small feast at our house with our kids and I’ll have a plate waiting for Aaron when he gets home from work.  He and I were just thinking back to the last time we got to spend a Thanksgiving together and it was when I was pregnant with Mairead, six years ago.  *Sigh*  Maybe next year.

I’ll stick with the traditional turkey dinner this year, with some garlic mashed, roasted root vegetables and of course Nana’s dressing.  I’ll never share that recipe, not because I’m stingy, but because I can never make it as amazing as she can.  All I know is there is enough salt and butter in it to last me a lifetime.  Oh and the gravy!  How could I forget the most important part?  For dessert I’ll probably bake a pie and I’ve got a few other ideas in mind.  You never know what will come out of my kitchen!

One thing that did come out of my kitchen this week though were these coconut cream cookie cups.  And the didn’t make it much farther than that; we devoured these!  When I bake something I have high expectations for it; I don’t want to just make dessert, I want to make the best dessert!  Sometimes before a recipe makes it to the blog I will have made it 2 or 3 times before the recipe is perfected enough to share it.  But these coconut cream cookie cups fall into my top 10 favorites by far!  The first thing Aaron asked after biting into one was, “are they hard to make?…because I want to eat this every day.”  This recipe made 24 mini cookie cups, and I kid you not all 24 were gone within a couple of hours.  If you need a recipe to wow your next potluck, or possibly your Thanksgiving guests this is one I highly recommend.  Enjoy!  And Happy Thanksgiving folks!

Coconut Cream Cookie Cups

Ingredients

Cookie Cups:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Coconut Cream Filling:

1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 large egg yolks
6 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup shredded coconut

Topping

2 cups fresh whipped cream
1/2 cup toasted shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a mini muffin tin and set aside.

Beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour*, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter mixture and mix until fully blended and a cookie dough forms.
*Spoon flour into a measuring cup rather than scooping from the bag.  If the flour is packed too tight the cookies will be too dry and crumble.

Roll small balls of dough (about 3/4 tbsp) in your hands and place into the muffin tin.  Using your thumb press down in the center of each ball creating a “cup.”

Bake for 8-9 minutes.  They may not appear brown, but they are cooked.  Allow to cool completely in the muffin tin.  To remove turn tin over and tap bottoms to pop them out.  If any do not come out easily, run a butter knife around the edges and they should come out easily.

In a small bowl whisk together milk and egg yolks until well blended and set aside.

In a saucepan, mix together sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt.  Slowly pour in the milk mixture whisking constantly.

Set heat to medium and continue whisking until mixture is bubbling and thick (about 8-10 minutes).

Once a pudding-like consistency, remove from heat.  Mix in vanilla extract, butter, and shredded coconut.  Allow to cool.

Scoop evenly into the cooled cookie cups and refrigerate about 20 minutes.

Spread 1/2 cup shredded coconut to a pie plate.  Place in an oven set to broil and toast lightly, for 2-4 minutes, taking care not to burn.

Beat whipping cream until firm peaks form.  Top prepared cups with whipped cream and toasted coconut.  Enjoy!

By Three Happy Folk

Adapted from Dixie Crystals