These Maraschino Cherry Chip Almond Cookies are soft, chewy, bursting with cherry and almond flavors, and decorated with white chocolate. They are simple to make in just 30 minutes, are gorgeous to serve, and will surely be a hit at your next gathering!
What are Maraschino Cherry Chip Cookies?
These chewy, soft cookies are flavored with maraschino cherry juice and almond. They are filled with chopped maraschino cherry pieces, colored with a bit of pink food dye as desired, and decorated with melted white chocolate.
These cookies require simple ingredients, are no-chill, and are the perfect colorful addition to any gathering or holiday spread!
Cherry Cookie Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter- You'll need unsalted butter at room temperature for these cookies. It should be cool to the touch, slightly soft, and almost shiny. It should not be cold or melted whatsoever.
- Granulated Sugar & Light Brown Sugar- Both granulated and light brown sugar are used in these cherry cookies for extra sweetness, flavor, and moisture.
- Egg Yolk- You ONLY need an egg yolk. Do NOT just use the entire egg, as your cookies will not come out properly. The addition of the egg yolk creates a chewier, slightly moister cookie.
- Maraschino Cherry Juice- Take 2 tablespoons of the cherry juice from the container and add them to your batter. Doing so adds flavor, color, and moisture!
- Almond Extract- The pairing of maraschino cherry and almond is simply unmatched. Almond extract makes these cookies what they are. Do not leave it out.
- All Purpose Flour- You'll need simple, plain, white all purpose flour for these maraschino cherry chip cookies. Measure using a kitchen scale or by using a spoon to transfer the flour from your bag to your measuring cups. Then, use a knife to level off the tops of measuring cups.
- Maraschino Cherries- You will chop your sweetened cherries into pieces and fold them into the batter as your very last step before baking.
- Pink Food Dye- This batter does not have a natural, deep pink color. If you would like to achieve any sort of real pink, you'll need food dye. I recommend food gel!
- White Chocolate Chips- You will melt white chocolate chips down before transferring them to a piping bag, zippable plastic bag with the corner cut off, or a parchment triangle. Then, you will drizzle the chocolate over the cookies.
Cookie Process
*READ RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR FULL DETAILS*
- Beat butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar together until smooth, puffy, and slightly shiny and pale in color. This should be about 2-3 minutes of mixing.
- Add egg, maraschino cherry juice, and almond extract to the batter. Mix on medium speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is mixed in.
- Slowly add flour to the batter, mixing on low speed.
- Stir pink food dye into the batter until desired color is reached.
- Fold cherries into the batter.
- Roll cookies into 1 ½ tablespoon (40-45g) balls, placing them at least 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Press down on the tops of the cookie dough balls to flatten them slightly.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes until the centers look slightly soft while the edges look set. Allow the cookies to cool before drizzling with melted white chocolate.
FAQ
This recipe calls for maraschino cherries. Maraschino cherries are preserved, sweetened, and colored cherries in a jar. The cherries are submerged in juice! These cherries are perfect for baking and create a gorgeous flavor! Do not simply use regular cherries, as you will not achieve proper results.
Yes! You absolutely can freeze these cookies tightly covered, individually wrapped, or in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I recommend freezing the cookies before they are decorated with the melted white chocolate, but it is fine to freeze the cookies after decorating.
Expert Tips & Tricks
Beating Butter & Sugar: Make sure to beat the butter and both sugars on medium-high speed for at least 2 minutes. This creates a fluffier texture and drastically improves the structure of the cookies. The mixture should look puffy, slightly pale, and a bit shiny.
Measuring Flour: Measure flour correctly by using a kitchen scale. If you do not have a kitchen scale, spoon flour into your measuring cups before taking a knife to sweep across the top to remove the excess flour. Overmeasuring flour will create dense, dry, hard cookies.
Food Dye: You do not have to use food coloring if you do not want to! However, using just a bit of pink food gel will create that gorgeous pink color you see in these photos!
Related Recipes
Print
Maraschino Cherry Almond Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 14 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies, Cherry, Almond
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft, chewy Maraschino Cherry Chip Cookies are cherry and almond flavored, made with easy ingredients, and will be ready in 25 minutes!
Ingredients
- ½ cup (110g) butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (70g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60g) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons (30g) maraschino cherry juice
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ⅔ cup (234g) all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (110g) maraschino cherries (about 20), drained and chopped
- optional: pink food dye
- optional: ¼ cup white chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer that is fitted with a paddle attachment, beat room temperature butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes until the mixture is smooth, slightly puffy in texture, and shiny and pale in color.
- Add your egg yolk, maraschino cherry juice, and almond extract to the batter. Beat on low speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure the ingredients are mixed together properly.
- Add flour slowly, mixing on low speed. Do not overmix past when the flour disappears into the batter. Add pink food dye until desired color is reached. Fold chopped maraschino cherries into the batter using a spatula.
- Roll dough into about 1 ½ tablespoon-sized dough balls, about 40-45g of dough. Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes or until the tops look slightly soft, the edges look set, and the bottoms are light golden brown when the cookie is lifted off of the baking sheet with a spatula.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack or plate to finish cooling. This allows the cookies to firm up and finish baking. Do not decorate the cookies until they have cooled.
- To decorate: Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 45 second increments, stirring between each round or over the stove, stirring constantly to avoid uneven heating. Transfer chocolate to a piping bag, parchment triangle, or plastic with the tip of the corner cut off and run the chocolate back and forth over the cookie to create the drizzle effect.
- Allow chocolate to harden before storing tightly covered or in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Keywords: Maraschino Cherry Cookies, Cherry Almond Cookies, White Chocolate Cherry, Christmas Cookies
Jules says
I made these after seeing how cute they look, & my family is now obsessed! They taste like an even better version of chocolate covered cherry candies. So yummy!
★★★★★
Elise says
Wow! Thank you, Jules! I love these cookies and am so glad to hear that you and your family enjoyed them too. Thank you for giving them a try and leaving such a kind review!
Sloane says
So delicious and easy to bake. The white chocolate is the perfect touch of sweetness. Definitely recommend!
★★★★★