I am so excited that today is the first day of December. I truly believe in celebrating all 24 days before Christmas, well in all actuality I believe in celebrating every day of the year, but December is especially festive.  And with that being said, I had to do my first Christmas cookie trial run. I found a recipe for food processor cookies and I thought that sounded intriguing. Plus I love coconut and chocolate and put that in an oatmeal cookie and I thought it sounded like a pretty successful combo.

When I make Christmas cookies, I try to do a good combination of new "experiments" and some fall back traditional recipes. I thought this recipe would be great as chocolate chip oatmeal is on the traditional side, but with a modern twist, adding in the coconut and mixing them in the food processor.

I did find, however, that mixing the chocolate chips in the food processor does cause them to get chopped into tiny bits. I thought of this prior to adding them to the processor, but I decided to blindly follow the directions of the recipe and honestly if I make these again, I think I would stir in the chocolate chips just to keep them whole. But never fear, it does not take away from the taste.

On a side note, I thought it was odd that this recipe was from Weight Watchers because well I didn't notice anything particular low in fat or calories about these cookies. Just sayin'!

These cookies have a great nutty flavor from the coconut and the ground oatmeal. The hint of chocolate is wonderful and they just feel like comfort food. I especially liked the texture of these cookies as they are crispy on the exterior and chewy on the inside. They are kind of rustic in appearance and definitely remind me of my childhood as these were the types of cookies I would leave out for Santa as a little tyke.

 Did you know that they aren't really sure of where the tradition of leaving cookies for Santa came from? It is believed that it possibly came from the tradition of putting cookies on the Christmas trees as decoration. Legend has it that children would wake up to find bites out of the ornaments, believed to be mice back in the day, and they thought Santa had eaten the cookies to keep up his energy for toy deliveries. As the practice of putting cookies on trees diminished, the cookies moved to plates left for Santa, as a token of appreciation. The tradition as we know it today is believed to have begun around the 1930's and it has been said bad kids use the cookies to bribe Santa and good kids use the cookies to say "thank you." I believe in bribery!

However, the tradition of leaving straw and carrots for the reindeer has been around since before 1821. This tradition came about to represent the items left for the Magi's camels, yeah I am not really sure how this was translated. But on another note, did you know that in the US, Santa gets milk and cookies and in England he gets sherry and mince pie? I am sure he appreciates the diversity because at some point he must get sick of cookies. And one last Santa cookie fact before I get back to the recipe, did you know that the most common cookie left for Santa is the Oreo?



Ok back to my cookies. So first of all, process the oats in the food processor, breaking it down to a course powder.


Next add the flour, salt and baking soda and combine. Remove the mixture from the food processor.


Next combine the brown sugar and butter in the food processor, mixing until the ingredients have been creamed together. Add the egg and vanilla and mix.



Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in the food processor and combine. Toss in the chocolate chips and coconut and combine.


Place the cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet, about a tablespoon sized mound. Bake for 12-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Voila!

Here is the actual recipe:


1/2 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, or substitute dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut



1. Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray.

2. Put oats in food processor and process until finely ground. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; pulse until blended. Turn mixture out onto sheet of wax paper. Put butter and brown sugar in food processor; process until blended well, scraping bowl down once. Add egg and vanilla; process until creamy. Add flour mixture and pulse just until combined. Add chocolate chips and coconut; pulse until mixed.

3. Drop dough by level tablespoons, about 2inches apart, on prepared baking sheets, making total of 24 cookies.

4. Bake until cookies are lightly browned around edges, 12-15 minutes, rotating baking sheets after 6 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets set on wire racks 1 minute. With spatula, transfer cookies from sheets to racks and let them cool completely.

Makes 24 servings

Happy Holidays and Cheers!