I usually only do one cookie for Christmas that involves white chocolate, but this year I was so smitten with two recipes I went for it. This is the second of the two. I've never used maraschino cherries in a recipe before so it was a first and it totally worked out! Definitely drain the cherries well after you chop them, too much liquid will ruin the recipe and the cookies wont hold together as well.
In general taste and texture they are true to shortbread cookies, with a little burst of cherry, white chocolate and just a tiny crinkle of sugar on the outside. These are possibly my favorite cookie of the season in 2012! Total winners!
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat your oven to 325 and lay out your cherries to dry them off.
Whisk together flour and sugar, and then cut in the cold butter. Stir in the dried cherries and 2/3 cup of the white chocolate. Now add the almond extract.
Roll into 3/4" balls and flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.
Bake for about 10 minutes. I stopped here but you can also dip half the cookie in white chocolate and then roll the edge in red sprinkles!
