By Robin Gagnon | Updated on
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These Cherry Almond Cookies are a traditional cookie often served on Italian cookie platters at Christmas time. Of course these lovely little cherry cookies with white chocolate drizzle are great anytime of year and are popular around Valentines day and for family gatherings year round.
The cherry and almond flavor make a delicious combination. These delightful Italian cookies will soon become a family tradition.
Cherry Almond Cookies
I remember these cookies from childhood and they were always a favorite. The slight twist on these fun Christmas cookies is the drizzle of white chocolate on top which serves as an icing.
The little cookies certainly have a classic, yet festive look, don't they.
How to Make Cherry Almond Cookies
Here is a step-by-step visual guide to making these traditional cookies. Full printable recipe below.
First preheat your oven to 350 degrees and gather your ingredients. Here is what you will need:
- ½cupunsalted butter, softened (one stick)
- 8ouncescream cheese, softened
- 1 cuplight brown sugar, snugly packed
- 1egg
- ½teaspoonsalt
- 1teaspoonalmond extract
- ½teaspoonvanilla extract
- 2cupsall purpose flour
- 20ouncesmaraschino cherries(jar) drained and patted dry
- ½cupwhite chocolate chips
Put the softened cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl with the brown sugar.
Mix well. Then add egg, salt, and extracts to the butter mixture and mix again.
Mix in the flour a little at a time.
Until you have a cookie dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough.
Roll small 1" balls of the dough and space them out a couple inches on baking sheets.
Now press your thumb down on each to create an impression.
Pop a cherry in each indent. Make sure they are dry and free of cherry juice.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes, until starting to very lightly brown at edges. Then place on wire rack to cool to room temperature. Place the rack over paper lined cookie sheets to prep for icing the cookies.
Microwave white chocolate in short intervals, stirring regularly until melted. Put the melted white chocolate in a plastic baggy (or piping bag/bottle if you have one).
If you prefer not to top with the chocolate, a basic icing will also work. Simply add a few drops of extract along with a couple teaspoons of milk, water, or maraschino cherry juice (for pink icing) to a ½ cup of powdered sugar and pipe onto the cookies.
Snip off a corner of the bag and drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies. Allow to rest until cool and the chocolate is firm to the touch.
More Holiday Cookies
- Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies - Easy Holiday Cookies!
- Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies with Walnuts
- Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies Recipe
- Coconut Bars Recipe
- Caramel Cookie Cups with Pecans and Chocolate
Cherry Almond Cookies Recipe
Classic Cherry Almond cookies, an easy recipe for this popular holiday cookie.
4.81 from 102 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: cherry almond cookies, Italian cookies
Prep Time: 13 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes
chill: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
Servings: 24
Calories: 201kcal
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter ,softened (one stick)
- 8 oz. cream cheese , softened
- 1- cup light brown sugar , snugly packed
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 20 oz maraschino cherries (jar) drained and patted dry
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, add the butter, cream cheese and brown sugar and mix until everything is creamed together. Add in the egg, salt, almond extract, and vanilla extract and continue to mix until well combined.
Slowly add the flour into the wet mixture and mix until smooth.
Cover the bowl and chill for several hours.
Using a small cookie scoop, scoop 1-inch balls and roll them into balls. Place the dough onto your cookie sheet and press a small well into the tops of them with your thumb.
Grab a maraschino cherry and gently squeeze it in a paper towel, to make sure it’s not wet, and place it into the well of your cookie.
*Note – If the cherries are still wet they will leave red stains around the top of your cookies.
Bake for about 12 minutes and cool completely on a cooling rack.
Once all of the cookies are baked and cooled, place the white chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate for 20 seconds, stir and then microwave 5-7 seconds at a time until the chocolate is all melted. Pour the melted chocolate into a baggie, snip the end just very slightly and drizzle the chocolate all over your cookies. Let the cookies sit for a few minutes so the chocolate can set.
Nutrition
Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 54mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 265IU | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 0.7mg
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Rebecca Orr says
Adding these to my cookie list for next Christmas.
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Danya says
These Christmas cookies were a huge hit! I will be making them every year!
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Marta H says
See Also60 Thanksgiving CookiesWe made them with green and red cherries the cookies looked amazing on the platter and everyone loved the.
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Ginny says
The chocolate instead of icing on these cookies made them so much better. I added blue sprinkles for 4th of July.
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Sanjitha says
Can we use flax seed meal instead of eggs
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Robin Gagnon says
I've used that or chia in some recipes, but have never tried it in these cookies.
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Marileta says
Can the dough be frozen?
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Robin Gagnon says
Yes, as long as it it thoroughly defrosted prior to shaping and adding cherries.
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Natasha says
Can you freeze the finished product ?
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Robin Gagnon says
I've never frozen the actual cookies, but cookies in general freeze well so.... I test froze and thawed a couple maraschino cherries (the bright red jarred type like in the pictures). Freezing really didn't change in texture or anything, so you should be good.
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Megan says
Do you have any tips for storage/ keeping these cookies fresh? Want to make them a day or so prior to them being eaten.
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Robin Gagnon says
Place the cookies in an airtight container after they have fully cooled. Placing parchment paper between the layers will keep them looking their best.
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Carrie says
These cookies look great! For how long can the dough be refrigerated or frozen beforehand?
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Robin Gagnon says
Like a week in fridge. Freezer 1-2 months
Augustina says
Are the cookies supose to be dough in the inside even though the cookies are brown on the bottom?
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Robin Gagnon says
In general, most cookies are still soft on top when bottoms brown when you pull them out of the oven. If they are still like that when they cool, then your oven may be running hot.
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Crystal Bonham says
Very easy to follow recipe and fun to make! Taste soooo good!
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Silvana Gallagher says
Can you use frozen cherries that are patted dry instead of maraschino cherries?
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Robin Gagnon says
It might be an issue since I think the frozen cherries would release juices. It might be OK, but I'd be leery.
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Cheryl Batich says
The cookie flavor is good but the texture is not good. Each bite sticks to the roof of your mouth. I put them in a tin hoping they would dry out, but the next day they had visible moisture on them. I thought they might be Cake like because of the cream cheese but didn’t expect them to be sticky.
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Anne says
Good flavor texture is doughy and I baked them 7 mins longer. Seems they may be missing baking soda or Baking powder? Not sure what went wrong. Pretty cookie though.
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Colleen says
Mine were perfect! I did all vanilla because I don't care for almond. I also had some dough left and ran out of cherries (I didn't have enough), so I used BlackBerry jam and white chocolate. Oh, my!!!! Keeper!
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