dried cherry and almond cookies

Earlier this week, I received and email from Food Network that the 12 days of cookies are coming! A friend sent me a link to the promotion last year, and being a lover of cookies, I signed right up. Starting in late November, they email you 1 cookie recipe every day, for 12 days.

Last year, I received the recipe for these dried cherry and almond cookies with vanilla glaze, and they have become one of my favorite cookies. Of all time. Seriously, they're that good.

The first time I made these (last December) I took pictures with my little point and shoot. So those are what you see here... throwback photos! After trying these a few times, I made some minor adjustments to fix the cookie/glaze ratio. I've also made them without the glaze, and with other fruits and nuts. It's a great base recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries
1/2 cup chopped almonds

and for the glaze...
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons water

Start by beating the butter, sugar, extracts, salt and cinnamon. Add in the eggs, then flour, and finally stir in your almonds and cherries. Giada calls for toasted, slivered almonds, but I just crunched up some whole raw almonds and it worked fine for me.

Take your dough and shape into a log on a sheet of parchement paper. Mine came out square. Oops! Wrap and refridgerate for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days.

Slice your cookies about 1/4" thick, using a sharp knife. I got about 24 cookies out of the log.

Place the slices on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes. 

They look pretty delicious already, but we aren't done yet! While the cookies cool, whisk the glaze ingredients together.

You want it to be runny but not watery. Add extra water or sugar as needed, then drizzle the cookies.

The icing needs to sit for about an hour to set. I dare you to wait that long before trying one.

They turn out nice and crisp, perfect to dip into a nice cup of hot black coffee. A little crunch from the nuts, a little tart from the cherries, and just the right amount of sweet from the glaze. YUM.