Sunday afternoon Cara and I spent hours in the kitchen baking cookies. It was our third year carrying out this tradition and I believe our most successful attempt. We were pleased with all the recipes this year. The eggnog cookie recipe is fantastic. It is easy to make and delicious. I stopped experimenting with homemade frosting because it never turned out but this was a winner. Cara didn’t get her recipes from a website but here are similar recipes: Date pinwheel cookies and Orange sugar cookies. The most popular cookie was the chocolate covered cherry shortbread cookies. It was heavily altered but based on this recipe.
Chocolate Covered Cherry Shortbread Cookies
40 cookies
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup cold butter
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- Heat oven to 325F.
- Rinse cherries in strainer and pat dry. Finely chop cherries and pat dry.
- Using a food processor combine flour, sugar and butter. Pulse until resembles fine crumbs. Add cherries and almond extract to dough.
- Roll dough to 1/2 inch height and cut into 1 inch rectangle/square shape. Place on cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Ganache: Place a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. Stir chocolate and heavy whipping cream until combine. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes or until firm. Pipe ganache on cooled cookies.
CarrieDaway 