Saturday, December 28, 2013

Cathedral Window Cookies


December 29th is the memorial of St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  He was martyred for the Catholic Faith in his cathedral on December 29, 1170.  You can read more about this holy saint here.

Our family celebrates a name-day in our home on this day, so I usually try and serve a little treat in his honor.  One year we made Sword and Miter Cookies, last year we made a Martyr's Crown Cake, and this year I had planned to make another Cathedral Cake using this pan, until I ran across the following recipe for Cathedral Cookies!



Cathedral Window Cookies
adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients
  • 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 3 cups pastel miniature marshmallows 
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional) 
  • 1 cup flaked coconut

Directions

In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir a small amount into the egg, then return all to pan. Cook and stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Pour into a bowl; let cool for 15 minutes. Gently stir in marshmallows and nuts.

Chill for 30 minutes.

On a sheet of waxed paper, shape dough into a 1-1/2" diameter log.
Place coconut on another sheet of waxed paper. Gently roll log over
coconut to coat sides. Wrap up tightly, twisting ends to seal.Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

Remove waxed paper. Cut into 1/4" slices. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Yield: about 5 dozen. (I cut mine a bit thicker and made about 3 dozen.) 

Note:  I just used what I had on hand and substituted 1 cup of white marshmallows, along with the 2 cups of pastel marshmallows that were in the cupboard.  For those that don't like coconut, you could also roll the log in chopped nuts to coat the sides as well!


Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival-day in honor of the blessed martyr Thomas: at whose martyrdom the angels rejoice, and give praise to the Son of God. 

St. Thomas Becket, Pray for us! 

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3 comments:

  1. My mom has made these since before I was born (40+ years ago...), always at Christmas time! Just another idea: she always rolled them in graham cracker crumbs (and opt. nuts) instead of coconut. We loved them as kids...and now my kids love them too. :o)

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    1. Graham cracker crumbs! What a great idea! Thank you for sharing! I have a feeling that these are going to become a new tradition in our home. I can't believe I had never seen them before! :)

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  2. We call them haystacks and have them every Christmas. I have never seen them made with colored marshmallows and sliced. Looks like our haystacks are getting a stained glass makeover.

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