Coconut biscuits

A traditional favourite my mother used to bake at Christmas.

Coconut biscuits

300 ml sugar

250g butter

2 eggs
1 cup desiccated coconut
3½ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

3½ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

Red glacé cherries

1. Put butter in sun to soften - do not melt it because it will change the texture of your biscuits. Take eggs out to bring to room temperature. 
2. Cut cherries into eight pieces each - I use about half a packet. 
3. Prepare the baking sheets. 
4. Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. 
5. Beat in the eggs. 
6. Mix in the coconut. 
7. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and make into a fairly stiff dough. 
8. Set the oven to 200° C on the bake function - not fan bake. 
9. Put dough into cookie press and fill the baking sheet. (One press gives a small biscuit which is ideal around Christmas time when you only want small snacks with all the delightful temptations around. Two presses gives a bigger biscuit with a softer texture, which is the way I like it.) Put a piece of glacé cherry in the middle of each biscuit. 
10. Bake for about 10 minutes until the edges are a light golden brown. 
11. While the first batch is baking, prepare the next batch so when you take the biscuits out of the oven the next batch is ready for baking. 
12. Leave biscuits to cool a bit before placing them onto a cooling rack. 

This quantity of dough makes about 3½ baking sheets if you make the smaller biscuits.