Hi everyone. I haven't written in what seems a very very long time, since before Christmas. This is because Christmas was very busy, January was filled with getting everyone healthy and putting in ear tubes, and now February has come along way too fast and I need to write something quickly before it's over. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite times to make treats. Along with Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, my children's birthdays, or just wednesday. But on Valentine's Day you can make them pink. Pink makes me happy. Pink is Laylah's favorite color. This year instead of pink frosting on something (kind of overdone in my opinion) I decided to actually make a pink cookie, and....wait for it....NOT USE RED FOOD COLORING!!!! Dear God, is that possible??? Yes, yes it is. And they are very pink, and very yummy. I did kind of steal the idea but I added my own twist, as usual. So here they are White Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Valentine's Day Cookies!
Pink Wonderfulness Cookies filled with LOVE
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup for the dough and 1/4 for the coating
1 cup butter
3/4 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries, drained and saved
2 tblsp maraschino cherry juice
1 cup white chocolate chips for the dough, 1 cup melted for the coating
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons shortening
Sprinkles
With batter attachment on your mixer, if you have one, if not a normal whisk is probably fine, add the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and butter. Mix until crumbly, like you're making pie crust. Add the maraschino cherries. The dough will be crumbly so add the cherry juice and almond extract to help it come together to make a smooth dough. Add the white chocolate chips and mix till evenly distributed.
Make cherry size balls of dough and place about two inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Get a glass with a nice smooth bottom and wet it a little then stick the glass in the reserved 1/4 cup sugar and press the cookies with the sugared glass till they are flattened rounds about a 1/4 inch thick. They will be bumpy because of the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for about twelve minutes, they will get a little golden around the edges.
When the cookies are cooled melt the rest of the white chocolate chips with the shortening in the microwave for one minute at a time until smooth. Dip half a cookie in the white chocolate and put on parchment paper. I added Valentine's Day Sprinkles I found at Michael's on the melted chocolate so that it would stick, but you can leave them off or just use red sugar. Let the chocolate harden, this takes about five minutes. Then try not to eat them all at once. Since these cookies are so small this recipe made about sixty of them. We gave them to Laylah's teachers in their goodie bags as well as a few friends and family. This one is a keeper! Happy Valentine's Day! Enjoy!
