Friday, May 25, 2007

Danish Wedding Cookies...

My favorite store bought cookie has always been.... the Keebler Danish Wedding Cookie. I haven't had these cookies in a LONG time. But the week before my first marathon, I had a fever... and the only prescription was Danish Wedding Cookies. So, before one of my training runs, I stopped at publix and bought a box and opened them in the car on the way to the park. I stuck my hand down inside into the powdery cookies and pulled one out...

"What the hell???? They changed them????"

Yes, they have been put on a diet. They are much thinner and have a much lighter coating of powdered sugar (if you can even call it a coating). I was disappointed. So disappointed that I only ate about half the box before my run!!

So, the quest began to find a recipe for original danish wedding cookies.

I found one recipe that swears that they taste just like them... (even better, some claimed!). But looking it over, it contained cinnamon (definitely not a flavor in the cookies) and didn't include any kind of coconut flavor (I could have sworn there was a hint of coconut flavor in the original cookies) or mini chocolate chips... so, I altered it...

Danish Wedding Cookies
20ish Servings
Soundtrack: Fully Loaded cd by Velvet Underground

1 cup + 2 tbsp of AP flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted and divided
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp coconut flavoring
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except for 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar into a bowl and stir well until blended. Batter will be crumbly...


Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. And bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Remove cookies to wire racks to cool slightly. Roll cookies in remaining powdered sugar and cool completely on wire rack.


So, the next time I make them... I think I will cook them for a little longer... a little closer to the 12 minutes and I also might chill the dough for a few minutes before shaping into balls and baking.

Taste wise, they taste a lot like the pink bag cookies, but texture wise... they are more melt in your mouth, than crunchy.

Yum.

Oh and they are called wedding cookies... because..."the marriage of the nuts and sugars represent the bumps in the road and the sweetness that surrounds a happy marriage." Awwww...

14 comments:

Wanda said...

I have been searching for a recipe so I could make the ones like the Keebler Danish cookies too. Theirs have always had oatmeal in them as well as coconut or coconut flavoring and tiny chocolate chips. Have you considered using some oatmeal in your recipe? That could be the key to the difference in texture! Let me know if you try it!

slmondragon said...

Thank you thank you for this recipe! I will be "tinkering" with it this weekend using oatmeal. I can hardly wait to try them!

cc said...

I tried a similar recipe, I used 2 sticks of softened butter and 1/2 cup of confectioners in the batter, and it did not give me problems, nor was it crumbly, and I swear they tasted practically spot on to the Keeblers, but I used almond extract, and vanilla, and now I'll add coconut extract. I used chopped pecans but now I will add the mini chips, but not many chips, to the recipe. What is so surprising is there is no leavening agents, nor eggs! I cooked them for 18 minutes plus another 5 minutes! and they turned out perfect.

cc said...

and I used 1/2 cup to roll them around in after they cooled.

Ruth said...

It was my sister's bday this week, and she was visiting from out of town. She used to eat those cookies like crazy when we were kids so I decided to make some for her. I couldn't figure out which recipes to use, as there were several on the net. I'll just say that yours definitely turned out to be my preferred ones of the two separate batches I made.
They tasted more like the real thing! And though I didn't have any coconut flavoring, I added about 1/4 tsp. of finely-shredded coconut, which did the trick.

Thanks for the recipe!!

paula said...

when my nephew got married, I made 400 of these with only pecans. I did not make another batch for several years, LOL

Grace said...

Thanks SO much... Just like you, I was severly disappointed in the " downsizing" of our DWC!! What is the world coming to??

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this recipe, I love these cookies. You are correct, they appear to have been put on a diet.

Anonymous said...

Many store bought cookies have a hint of coconut flavor. This is often due not because of having coconut in the recipe, but some coconut and/or palm kernel oil is added to (or as) the fat for the cookie. I agree that it gives a good flavor.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recipe. The Keebler cookies have coconut, oatmeal & mini chocolate chips. The oats & coconut are very finely chopped. There are no nuts or cinnamon in the Keebler cookies.

Tandra said...

Where did you find your recipe?

Anonymous said...

I did use both vanilla and a lesser amount of coconut flavoring. Accents the pecans nicely.

Old school said...

Just get about 2 or 3 oz of powdered sugar put in the bag Shake It and it'll just be like old times

Laura said...

I've looked at several recipes since I found out Keebler's version was discontinued. Comments on your recipe rang true to me, so I based mine on yours, and others with common amounts of butter vs. flour. Here's what I baked, and in my opinion, I hit the mark on my first attempt. However; I need to find someone else that ate the Keebler brand as frequently as I did in the past 50 years to taste these. The dough is incredibly stiff and it's difficult to get the mini chocolate chips all mixed in, but it's very worth it!

2 sticks butter (1 cup)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 Tbsp finely chopped oats
1 Tbsp finely chopped coconut
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 – 2/3 cup finely chopped, toasted pecans
Powdered sugar for rolling cookies in twice (can use a bag; the cookies are light and crunchy but hold together very well)

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla extract with mixer. Add flour, chopped oats, and coconut. Use spoon to combine chocolate chips and pecans. Use 1 Tbsp. cookie scoop. Cook 12 - 14 minutes or until bottoms are slightly browned. Cool slightly then roll in powdered sugar. Let cool completely and roll in powdered sugar.