DIY Geneva Cookies – Pecan / Candy Cane / Coconut

DIY Geneva Cookies - Pecan / Candy Cane / Coconut

In the UK, you can’t find Pepperidge Farm Cookies – I know, it’s not like they’re the best cookies ever, but as far as packaged cookies go, Pepperidge Farm’s are pretty damn fine. So what do you do when you can’t buy them?

…It’s DIY time.

First off: we have a buttery, crisp cookie base in the shape of an oval. It’s simple and delicious with a light, crunchy texture.

Next: a layer of dark chocolate – I like to go for a 70% cocoa solid vibe here as it helps to calm down the sweetness of the cookie underneath. However, if you’re more of a milk chocolate person, GO FOR IT!

Finally: a topping of your choice. I think the genuine pepperidge farm ones have chopped pecans on top but you can really put whatever you want on there. It’s nice to have something a bit crunchy in my opinion so – toasted nuts/seeds, cocoa nibs, candy canes etc…

DIY Geneva Cookies - Pecan / Candy Cane / Coconut
DIY Geneva Cookies - Pecan / Candy Cane / Coconut

 Notes:

– I’ve subbed half the butter for 3.5 0z of coconut oil  (i.e. used 3.5 oz of butter + 3.5 oz of coconut oil) and it works just as well!

– If you want an easy way to temper the chocolate, I’ve got an easy, step-by-step image guide here

– To save time:

You seriously don’t need to make these oval shaped – it saves a lot of hassle if you just make the cookies round: just roll the dough into 1″ balls, place on the lined cookie sheet and flatten into 1/4″ thick circles; they’ll be just as good, and much quicker to make.

– instead of coating the bottom of the cookies w/ the chocolate, just dip one half of the cookie into the chocolate, then dip it into the toppings

– You can use any other toppings you want – don’t limit yourself to those three, go crazy! – chopped peanuts, hazelnuts, spread on some nutella, crushed pretzels, crushed potato chips, flaky sea salt, chopped toffee, chopped candy bars (rolo or snickers would be just…I can’t even…), dried fruit, freeze dried fruit, mini marshmallows… whatever!

– I also drizzled the peppermint Geneva Cookies with a but of melted white chocolate for some pizazz :O ahaha

DIY Geneva Cookies – Pecan / Candy Cane / Coconut

A copycat version of Pepperidge farm Geneva Cookies. A buttery, crisp cookie topped with a layer of dark chocolate and then chopped pecans.
4.60 from 10 votes
Print Pin
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 14 tbsp (7 oz) unsalted butter (see notes)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp vinegar , (anything but balsamic!) or lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 8 to 10 oz semisweet / bittersweet chocolate , , melted (and tempered if you can be bothered – see notes)

For the toppings ~ 1/2 to 2/3 cup of one of the following:

  • 1/3 cup toasted chopped pecans , , toasted dessicated coconut, crushed candy cane

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
  • Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and vinegar/lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add in the next 4 ingredients and stir until just combined.
  • Divide the dough into 1″ balls, roll the dough balls into 2 1/4″ long sausage shapes, place onto a lined cookie sheet.
  • Flatten the sausages of dough into oval shapes (see notes) – about 1/4 inch thick, spaced 1/2" apart on the cookie sheet.
  • Bake for 17-20 minutes until they are a light golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
  • Once cooled, spread about 1/2 tsp of melted (tempered if you can be bothered) chocolate onto the bottom of each cookie (you can use a pastry brush, pallette knife or butter knife), and sprinkle with your desired toppings. Let the chocolate set at room temperature. Store in an airtight container.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it went! Mention @izyhossack or tag #topwithcinnamon!

35 thoughts on “DIY Geneva Cookies – Pecan / Candy Cane / Coconut”

  1. I love all these shots! They look so gorgeous. And those cookies…don’t even get me started!

    • thanks! It was pretty stressful having to shoot three sets of cookies in one go, I think I’ve run out of cookie compositions for a while now :/

  2. Love, love, love. I’ve never heard of Geneva Cookies actually (you have me second-guessing the name too!) and I live in California haha. But I just looked them up, and yours look EXACTLY the same, except ten times better because they’re homemade. I so need to try these! And everything else you make. 🙂 Love the photos, too!

    • haha, well you don’t ever need to bother with them now 🙂 just make them, so so so much better! Making the cookies oval shaped to look like the originals was the bane of my life – that’s why I recommend just making them circular in the recipe notes ahah. Thank you!! 😀

  3. I’ve never eaten these or anything like them so am totally intrigued to try them out. Particularly love the candy cane topped one – so bright and festive!

    • They are some of the best cookies I’ve ever made – everybody loved them! haha, yeah my mum was particularly addicted to the candy cane ones 🙂

  4. Wonderful presentation, I bet they taste like heaven! I love this type of cookie with chocolate on top; thanks for the recipe!

  5. Oh dear, I should not know how to make these. I will eat them all. That’s what happened when I found a recipe for homemade Milano cookies last year! And I’m pretty sure I’d like these even more. The whipped egg whites in the homemade Milanos made them a little airy, and the weren’t quite as similar to the real deal as I would have liked. (That still wasn’t enough to keep me from eating way too many, though.) I’m now trying to resist the urge to look up a recipe for homemade Brussels cookies, because those are my absolute favorite out of all the PF cookies. Crap, I did it. And there’s a Food52 recipe for them. Bye bye, waistline!

    • ahahah, I’ve seen a few recipes for milanos floating around the internet, so I thought I’d be indie and go for the ‘underdog’ Geneva cookies instead.
      Jeez, brussels cookies + me = a disaster. I could eat a whole packet in one day. Ikea sells similar ones that come ‘ikea style’ i.e in a HUGE CRATE. That’s a few weeks where the baggy jumpers are worn every day.

  6. What a great homemade version of those Pepperidge Farm cookies!! They look just like them. I am going to try these. Love your “action” photos! So cute.

  7. Thanks for the mention! These look absolutely beautiful (I was looking forward to this post after seeing your pics on Instagram). My favorite Tollhouse cookies are Milanos… or even better, mint Milanos! My dad used to pack them in my lunchbox all the time and I absolutely adore them!

  8. I just made the fitst batch of these cookies and wanted to add a note: this dough was very dry and i found muself having to kneed the dough to combine it–when i first added the dry ingredients the mixture resembled crumbs. The dough was still crumbly when i formed them on the baking sheet but the finished cookies did taste good. I’ll be adding the chocolate and toppings later. Thanks for the recipe!!

  9. These look exactly like the originals…I made a copycat version of their Brussels cookies and loved them, so I can’t wait to try these. I love being able to re create these cookies and never be at the mercy of those expensive little packages of Pepperidge Farm again!!!

    • Sue, where did you find that recipe for the PF Brussels cookies? I’ve been wanting to make the Brussels Mint and the Bordeaux. Those two are my favourites.

  10. wow!! am going to veganize these and make them! first site i’ve come upon with embedded videos that just…happen.thanks! (i linked from eat your books)

    • I’ve made them with half butter and half coconut oil, and they taste closer to the original version than the all butter ones!! Let me know how yours turn out 🙂
      AHAHA, well, that’s just how my life goes I guess :’)

  11. Hi
    I found the receipe in Pinterest and have waited far too long to prepare them.
    I prepared them today! They are just delicious.
    The toppings I used are: walnuts, chestnuts, fried corn and cramberries, in separate batches.
    Will bring them to celebrate mom’s day next Sunday (in Spain it’s on the first Sunday of May).
    Thanks!

  12. Hello Izy 🙂 I just noticed that I have caster sugar and not granulated sugar….would this make a difference? I want to make them perfect! They just look divine!!

  13. I actually baked the cookies today and they are PERFECT, I will totally make these again!!! The dough is easy to make and once baked, they are so crispy! I like to give them the oval shape, I think it’s part of the fun. However, I do need to learn how to temper the chocolate. I think I’ll trade biscuits for a kitchen thermometer :’D

  14. 5 stars
    Gyyyyrrrrllll!

    Usually, I find many of the recipes that I get from the net are… sometimes dubious, at best.

    The “author” will post for the cool factor…. and then most of the reviews are by folks who “love it”, but didn’t make the recipe!

    I am an experienced baker and have been doing this for decades!

    This cookie… delicious. Not exactly like the Geneva cookie, the texture is a bit different, and I am sure the “manufacturer” uses all sorts of additives that we don’t use in a home kitchen. The other thing is I believe these are molded, and not drop cookies.

    None of this matters one bit!

    These cookies, even by themselves are delicious. With the chocolate and pecans… really really good.

    The only tweak I will make for the next batch is to try a mix of butter and ghee (no veg. shortening here) or maybe butter and lard. The coconut was just a bit too present for my taste.

    Serious kudos to you… I am glad I found this site. Looking forward to trying more recipes.

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