"Coquito" Coconut Cookies

Two of my very best friends from college were from the lovely island of Puerto Rico. Our first December away from home they made a traditional Puerto Rican drink called Coquito, the Puerto Rican answer to our egg nog. And the Puerto Ricans know their rum, so you know good and well that they know how to drink rum for the holidays. Being that I am a big coconut fan, and not a very big egg nog fan, I absolutely loved this drink. I'll even share the recipe with you very soon.

But for now, we've got Coquito cookies! I searched everywhere for a recipe for coquito cookies to come up with something great, but I only found one. So my version is inspired solely by my taste buds and a little blog called Mind Over Batter.

Coquito Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. ground cloves
• ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 8oz. package of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• Coquito topping – Recipe follows

Instructions:

1. Combine dry ingredients, set aside. Mix wet ingredients on low in a stand mixer, until well combined and fluffy. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix until well combined. Split dough in two, wrap both mounds in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. 
2. Sprinkle flour onto a hard surface and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Using a round cutter or the rim of a cup, cut out circles. Using a pastry tip or other small round cutter, cut the interior out of the cookie to resemble a doughnut. Place rounds on a sprayed baking sheet, bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Let cool. 
3. Spread with coquito topping, and chill until topping is firm. Serve and enjoy!

Coquito Topping:

• 1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
• 1 12 oz. can coconut milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 TB spiced rum
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 cups shredded coconut

1. Put milks, sugar, rum and spices in a saucepan over low heat. Simmer until the mixture has reduced by half and become thick. 
2. Remove from heat, let cool 15 minutes. Add shredded coconut. 
3. Let chill in the refrigerator another 15 minutes, spread onto cooled cookies.