Christmas Cookies




White Chocolate Cherry Cookies



The first Saturday after Thanksgiving is 'Cookie Day'.  It's the day that my sisters and I all gather at mom's house and bake for the holidays. It's a tradition that I love.  Baking starts early and continues until late in the day. We are now joined by nieces and nephews that join in the baking frenzy. This year I tried a new recipe.... I sorta followed the recipe, when I packed for Cookie Day I did not read through the recipe well. I packed Almond Bark instead of White Chocolate Baking Squares, so I had to adapt....

White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

(From Better Homes and Gardens)

1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup cold butter

12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped

(I used white almond bark)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 drops red food coloring

2 teaspoons shortening

Christmas sprinkles, nonpareils or edible glitter

2 teaspoons shortening (didn't use since I used Almond Bark)

Preheat oven to 325. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 2/3 cup of the chopped chocolate. (I did not stir in the chopped chocolate, I added a few extra chopped cherries) Stir in almond extract and food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.

Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls. (I use a small cookie scoop) Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1 1/2" rounds.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

In  small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. (I melted Almond Bark in the microwave...) Dip half of each cookie into chocolate/almond bark. roll dipped edge in Christmas sprinkles. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set.

Festive MandM Cookies, Merry Mice, Nutter Butter Snowmen, and Spritz Cookies
A sampling of just a few of the goodies we made for the Holidays.

In the spirit of Christmas, I am offering 25% off in my ETSY store today thru Sunday!  Woot! Woot!  The coupon code is JINGLE.

Happy quilting and baking!