Teresa’s Bake Shop – Christmas Cookie Extravaganza – 2012

I adore these fabulous Cheery Cherry Cookies. It’s filled with candied cherries, coconut, and pecans and tastes absolutely amazing. The smell of baking coconut filled my house with the most wonderful fragrance. This cookie is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside–just what we like in a cookie.

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The original recipe calls for maraschino cherries although I always use candied cherries because they are cheaper. Because you can make this with maraschino cherries you can make this recipe all year round–not just during the holidays.

We have made this cookie each year for our Christmas Cookie Extravaganza for about 15 years. We started making this cookie because my former father-in-law, who is now deceased, loved cherries. I was always trying to find recipes with cherries for him. When he and my mother-in-law got their annual popcorn tin filled with 80-100 homemade Christmas cookies and brownies, Mack would always dig out all the cherry cookies. They were his private stash!

We found this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook years ago and it was so well-received that I started making it regularly. Except for using candied cherries instead of maraschino cherries I’ve left the recipe as is. It’s really an excellent recipe taste-wise along with being pretty. I highly recommend you consider this delicious cookie for your Christmas baking this year.

When I initially posted this recipe in November 2012, my pictures were overly busy with too many Christmas directions and I was using only an iPhone 3 for a camera so they weren’t very clear either. Because those first year blog pictures were of such poor quality I’ve been going back through each one and remaking them so I can retake the pictures so each post is more appealing.

To that end, I recently remade these delicious cookies (November 2015) for friends who are moving into our new neighborhood. I saw candied cherries at the Christmas baking display at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago and snatched up a container specifically so I could remake these luscious jewels. These have always been some of my favorite Christmas cookies. I hope you’ll give them a try.

Cheery Cherry Cookies are great cookies to take for Cookie Exchanges or other holiday parties.

Each bite of Cheery Cheery Cookies is filled with luscious cherries, coconut, and pecans. Yum, yum!

Take a platter of Cheery Cherry Cookies to your office, church, or family dinners during the holidays and you won’t leave with a single cookie!

Here’s what I did.

I used these ingredients.

Soften butter and place in large mixer bowl. Add brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, salt and baking soda.

 Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer.

Add UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour. Bleached flour toughens baked goods. Add cherries, coconut and chopped pecans.

Stir all ingredients together with wooden spoon. Don’t mix these last ingredients with a mixer or it will toughen the cookies.

Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheets that have been sprayed with cooking spray. I found it helpful to keep my hands moist while rolling. Bake about 12 minutes at 375 or until done. I took the cookies out while they were still raising and let them finish baking on cookie sheets.

Cheery Cherry Cookies are well worth trying. I recommend you try these out this holiday season.

These cookies are chewy in texture but have a nice crunch from the pecans.

Each cookie has flakes of coconut, chopped pecans and candied cherries.

Here’s the recipe.

CHEERY CHERRY COOKIES

(Recipe adapted from Taste of Home Annual Recipes 1996, also included in the 50^th Anniversary Taste of Home Cookbook)

Cheery Cherry Cookies

Teresa Ambra

Cheery Cherry Cookies are breathtaking and so mouthwatering. These festive and scrumptious cookies are filled with candied cherries, pecans and coconut. Great for holiday baking, Christmas Cookie Exchanges, potlucks or tailgating parties. If you enjoy cherries, these cookies are irresistible.

3.45 from 29 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 37 minutes mins

Course Cookies, Brownies and Bars, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 36

Calories 129 kcal

Equipment

• 2 large 15x26" cookie sheet pans
• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 electric mixer
• 1 wooden spoon
• 1 sharp knife to dice cherries
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• 1 spatula
• 1 nut chopper if nuts are not previously chopped

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup light brown sugar packed
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp. 2% milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup candied cherries diced
• 1 cup pecans chopped (measure after chopping)
• 1 cup coconut

Instructions

 

• In a large mixing bowl, cream brown sugar, butter, egg, milk, vanilla, salt and baking soda with an electric mixer.
• Fold in flour, cherries, pecans and coconut with a wooden spoon and stir until very well combined.
• Stir thoroughly; this may take 4-5 minutes.
• Roll mixture into balls and place onto baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
• (I kept my hands moist while rolling).
• Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks every six minutes of baking time.
• Cool completely.

Notes

NOTE: Keep hands moist while rolling dough into balls.

 

 

NOTE: You can also use maraschino cherries or fresh cherries in this recipe.

 

 

NOTE: You may also want to slightly press the cookies down onto the cookie sheet before baking.

 

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

 

^© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 129kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 50mgPotassium: 40mgFiber: 1gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 128IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg

Keyword cherries, cherry cookie, cherry dessert, coconut, cookie, dessert

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Treat your family to a batch of these marvelous goodies. They will keep coming back for more!

Don’t forget to leave a small plate under your Christmas tree for Santa!

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Cheery Cherry Cookies

Teresa Ambra

Cheery Cherry Cookies are breathtaking and so mouthwatering. These festive and scrumptious cookies are filled with candied cherries, pecans and coconut. Great for holiday baking, Christmas Cookie Exchanges, potlucks or tailgating parties. If you enjoy cherries, these cookies are irresistible.

3.45 from 29 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 37 minutes mins

Course Cookies, Brownies and Bars, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 36

Calories 129 kcal

Equipment

• 2 large 15×26" cookie sheet pans
• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 electric mixer
• 1 wooden spoon
• 1 sharp knife to dice cherries
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• 1 spatula
• 1 nut chopper if nuts are not previously chopped

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup light brown sugar packed
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp. 2% milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup candied cherries diced
• 1 cup pecans chopped (measure after chopping)
• 1 cup coconut

Instructions

 

• In a large mixing bowl, cream brown sugar, butter, egg, milk, vanilla, salt and baking soda with an electric mixer.
• Fold in flour, cherries, pecans and coconut with a wooden spoon and stir until very well combined.
• Stir thoroughly; this may take 4-5 minutes.
• Roll mixture into balls and place onto baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
• (I kept my hands moist while rolling).
• Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks every six minutes of baking time.
• Cool completely.

Notes

NOTE: Keep hands moist while rolling dough into balls.

 

 

NOTE: You can also use maraschino cherries or fresh cherries in this recipe.

 

 

NOTE: You may also want to slightly press the cookies down onto the cookie sheet before baking.

 

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

 

^© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 129kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 50mgPotassium: 40mgFiber: 1gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 128IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg

Keyword cherries, cherry cookie, cherry dessert, coconut, cookie, dessert

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!