Friday, February 12, 2021

Cherry Bon Bon Cookies

Cherry Bon Bon Cookies. Shortbread dough wrapped around a cherry and drizzled with cherry icing

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I thought that I would find something festive to make. I figured that I had some cherries on hand, so that was my starting point. I came across many recipes that I had already made, as I suppose the selection out there isn’t the greatest. Many cherry cookies are for Christmas, and while I do make Christmas-like cookies frequently, I wanted to avoid that here. I found these cookies, stuffed with cherries, and thought they would be great.

My only issue was that I had candied cherries instead of maraschino cherries. I figured they would work well enough, although they are sticky! I didn’t have the cherry juice for the icing, but I knew I would figure something out. The cherry juice is for color and a little flavor, and I could use some food coloring to have it at least look correct. I’m not certain there is much of a better substitution, unless you used cherry extract. While cherry extract does exist, I didn’t have any on hand.

Any cookie that you mold dough around a center is going to be a little bit fussy, and this is no exception. It doesn’t make the biggest batch, so that’s a relief! The cookie is very simple, basically a shortbread-type cookie with no additional leavening. The cherry adds the sweetness, as does the icing. In the end, I replaced the cherry juice with milk and added some food coloring. It’s a bit darker than I had planned, but it is still festive. If you are having a plethora of sweetness this weekend, these cookies add all the festivity and just a little bit of sweet.

Cherry Bon Bon Cookies
About 24 maraschino cherries, divided
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cherry juice

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Drain the cherries, reserving the juice. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium until light. Stir in the flour, salt, milk, and vanilla. Using about a tablespoon of dough, shape the dough around each cherry, making sure that the cherry is completely enclosed by dough. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, until set. Allow the cookies to cool completely before adding the icing.

Make the icing: in a small bowl whisk together the melted butter, powdered sugar, and the ¼ cup of reserved cherry juice. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies.

Recipe from Food Lovin’ Family

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