Cherry Almond Sugar Cookies
Growing up in Chicagoland I used to love to look at the paper on Wednesdays. That's the day the Food Section would be included, recipes were printed and grocery store ads were included. Every year I thought about entering the annual holiday cookie contest, but I always missed the deadline. Last year was my first entry with Cranberry Gems, I made it into the top ten and received a copy of the Chicago Tribune Holiday Cookie cookbook. This year I put more thought into my entry and decided upon using my mom's sugar cookie recipe (Granny's Sugar Cookie) and made it my own to highlight my love of cherries and almonds. I hope you like the recipe as much as we do. The voting has begun and ends on November 8th, if you find yourself with some spare time, please follow this link (Chicago Tribune Contest Link) and vote for my cookie. You can vote once a day, on your phone and your computer. If you try the recipe, I hope you visit back here to share your comments. I truly appreciate your support.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. almond extract
5 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 - 10 oz. jar of maraschino cherries, drained (juice reserved) and coarsely chopped
granulated sugar
Method:
Preheat your oven 375°. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vegetable oil, eggs, and almond extract and mix well for about 2 minutes. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Gradually beat in the flour mixture together with the butter mixture and stir until just combined. Once combined, lightly stir in the chopped maraschino cherries.
Put the reserved cherry juice in a bowl. In another small bowl place about 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Roll enough dough in your hands to create a ball approximately 1.5". Place the dough ball on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper spaced 2 inches apart. Moisten the bottom of a 2″- 2.5″ glass with the reserved juice from the cherries and dip it into some granulated sugar, press to flatten the cookie dough. Bake for 10 minutes until edges just start to brown. Remove to a rack to cool. Enjoy!
