Holiday Hideaways
Holiday Hideaways are so delectable. These festive cookies are fabulous for holiday baking. Sugar cookies are filled with maraschino cherries then dipped in chocolate or vanilla bark and sprinkled with chocolate shavings. You'll be swooning over every bite!
Equipment
- 2 18x26" cookie sheet pans
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 electric mixer
- 3 wooden spoons
- 1 spatula
- waxed paper
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 2 medium sauce pans
- 1 nut chopper if you want diced pecans on top of the cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp. 2% milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 24 maraschino cherries well drained, about one 10-oz. jar
- 12 oz. white confectionery coating divided
- 12 tbsp. butter melted (3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks)
- 12 oz. dark chocolate confectionary coating
- pecans Finely chopped, for topping, if desired
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream sugar, butter, egg, milk, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and baking powder with an electric mixer.
- Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Chill dough for a few hours to make for easier handling.
- Form 2 teaspoonfuls of dough into a ball.
- Flatten ball and place a cherry in the center; shape dough around cherry.
- Repeat with remaining dough and cherries.
- Place balls 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
- Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. (Mine took about 16 minutes).
- Rotate cooke sheets on oven racks after six minutes of baking time.
- Cool 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- Grate 2-oz. white confectionery coating; set aside.
- Grate 2-oz. chocolate confectionery coating; set aside.
- Melt remaining white coating with 6 tbsp. of butter in medium saucepan over low heat.
- In a separate saucepan, melt dark coating with remaining butter over low heat
- (Use more butter if you need to make the bark thin enough to coat the cookie well.)
- Dip half the cookies into white coating; place on waxed paper.
- Sprinkle with grated chocolate bark or pecans.
- Dip remaining cookies in dark coating; place on waxed paper.
- Sprinkle with grated white coating.
- Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Notes
NOTE: Confectionery coating is found in the baking section of most grocery stores. It is sometimes labeled “almond bark” or “candy coating” and is often sold in bulk packages of 1-1 ½ lbs.
NOTE: Preparation time does not include time required to chill dough.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
Calories: 345kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 2gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 16gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 150mgPotassium: 21mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 29gVitamin A: 376IUVitamin C: 0.001mgCalcium: 22mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!