Iced Cherry Almond Cookies
Home » COOK » Recipes » Baking » Cookies »Add this recipe for Iced Cherry Almond Cookies to your Christmas baking list. They are packed with yummy cherry flavor and topped with a cherry icing and slivered almonds.
The cherry cookies are a delicious treat for the festive cookie jar or to give as a sweet edible gift to give this holiday season.
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Iced Cherry Almond Cookies
If you love the flavor combination of cherry and almonds (it’s one of my favorites!) then these iced cherry almond cookies are going to go down a real treat. Not just for the holidays, but all the year-round too!
The soft and fluffy cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious and packed with maraschino cherries.
Once baked and cooled, they are slathered with a thick cherry-infused pink icing and sprinkled with slivered almonds.
This recipe makes 4-dozen cookies – so plenty for you and plenty to give to someone else!
Ingredients used in this recipe
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, but here is a brief outline so you know what to expect from the recipe.
I highly recommend always reading a recipe all the way through before starting.
Alongside regular baking ingredients like butter, flour, sugar, etc., you will need some more specialized ingredients which I’ve linked below to Amazon for your convenience.
Cherry Cookie Recipe Tips
- This recipe uses 2 (6oz/170g) jars of maraschino cherries for a total of 12oz/340g. You may have to buy more/less jars depending on where you live. If you toss in a few more cherries it’s not going to hurt!
- Don’t throw away the cherry juice as it is used in this recipe too.
- The chopped cherries need to be squeezed out till they are very dry.
- Place them into a piece of muslin, gather up the corners and squeeze!
- If you can’t source cherry extract you can use the cherry juice from the jarred fruit as a substitute.
- These cookies use an ingredient called cream of tartar which keeps them soft when baked.
- Don’t over mix the cookie batter as this will create chewy cookies – and you don’t want that!
- If you can’t source slivered almonds, you could use flaked almonds instead.
- Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out the cookie dough evenly.
- The icing should be thick and spreadable. If it runs off the cookies it is too thin, so thicken it with some more powdered sugar.
- The cookies taste best in the first few days but will last for a week in an airtight container.
Make It A Meal!
You’ve made the dessert, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal!
- Appetizer: Leek & Potato Soup
- Main Dish: Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes
- Side Dish: Roasted Apple Cauliflower Mash with Crispy Brussels Sprouts
- Beverage: Naughty Elf Cocktail
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy! Please feel free to check them out too.
More Recipes Using Cherries
Since one of the main ingredients in this recipe is cherries here are some more recipes using the same:
More Cookie Recipes
Giving the gift of cookies and need some more cookie recipes? Here are some of my favs!
Iced Cherry Almond Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 6 oz/170g jars maraschino cherries, drained reserving juice
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 2 tsp cherry extract
- 4½ cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
For the Icing
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- ⅓ cup maraschino cherry juice
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp cherry extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Mince the cherries and squeeze out in a muslin or cheesecloth until very dry. Set aside.
- Place the softened butter, oil, and sugars into a large mixing bowl and beat until combined.
- Beat in the eggs, almond extract, cherry extract, and dry minced cherries.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar into a second large bowl. Slowly add one cup of the flour mixture at a time to the butter mixture beating immediately after adding it. Be careful to not over mix.
- Using a small ice cream scoop to measure out even scoops of cookie dough, drop them onto the lined cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes or until edges and bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned.
- Remove cookie sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing add the melted butter, cherry juice, almond extract, and cherry extract to a large bowl and whisk together.
- Whisk in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until the icing is smooth, thick, and spreadable. If it runs off the cookies it is too thin.
- Adjust as needed with additional cherry juice and/or powdered sugar to the mixture.
- Spread the icing onto the cooled cookies and sprinkle with the slivered almonds.
- Leave iced cookies to set before serving.
- Store for up to a week in an airtight container. The cookies are at their best in the first few days, but they're so good, they probably won't last that long!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.