Cherry Nut Nuggets: Delicious Cookies Any Time of Year

What is the best part of the Holidays? The cookies, of course. This year, the wonderful Allison at The PinterTest Kitchen and Sarah from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes, organized the Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange. Each of us sent a dozen cookies to 3 different bloggers and in return 3 different bloggers sent us a dozen cookies. I sent this long time family favorites: Cherry Nut Nuggets.

I have no idea where the original recipe for the Cherry Nut Nuggets came from, I just know they are one of my family's go to Christmas cookies every year. They are really festive if you can get the green cherries as well as the red. But since I was shopping in early November they weren't in the stores yet.

They would also be great for Valentine's Day or any time of the year, I suppose. But for some reason I only make them in December.

Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange

I was lucky enough to receive these three wonderful cookies in our exchange. Click on the photos to go to the recipes. You can see all of the cookies at the bottom of the post.

Cherry Nut Nuggets

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Ingredients

 

• 1 cup shortening
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Large egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup nuts (finely chopped)
• 24-30 Maraschino cherries (halved)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Cream shortening and cheese together. Add sugar, egg and extract; mix thoroughly.
• Sift dry ingredients together and stir into creamed mixture. Chill dough for about 30 minutes.
• Form dough into 1-inch balls. Dip balls in nuts; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press a cherry half, cut side down, into center of each cookie.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until nuts are slightly toasted.

Until next time, happy eating.

~Audrey

Get more Christmas cookie recipes in our ebook Bake the Season Bright available on Amazon Kindle.