White Chocolate Cherry Almond Cookies
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
2 Tablespoons of liquid from cherries
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
12 ounces white chocolate baking squares, finely chopped
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 drops red food coloring
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (if needed)
White nonpareils, sprinkles, and/or red edible glitter (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well reserving 2 Tablespoons of cherry liquid for the batter later\.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained and chopped cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped white chocolate. Stir in the 2 Tablespoons reserved cherry liquid, almond extract, and food coloring. Mixture will be very dry and look like crumbs. Don't worry. That's normal. Using your hands, knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. The cookies do not spread much so make sure your balls are well formed. Having slightly damp hands helps here. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Do not overbake! Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
5. Microwave the white chocolate; melting in 30 second intervals stirring in
between. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in sprinkles and/or edible glitter. (I didn't add any sprinkles to the cookies, but I did add a red chocolate drizzled over them, and they were amazing!) Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Makes about 48 cookies.
Here is a picture of my dessert spread I had for my family.
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