Cherry Icebox Cookies


  As I have said before, I am a fan of Southern Living Cookbooks. Also my family are cookies eaters. With that in mind, I tried this recipe for Cherry Icebox Cookies in the Ultimate Southern Living  cookbook
  They are good and icebox cookies are nice to have on hand as you can bake them a few at a time and always have fresh cookies. These would be nice on a christmas cookie tray and if you can find the green maraschino cherries that would be festive also (green sugar?).
  Two things about this recipe. One, in my oven 400° was too hot. 375° worked just fine. You should always bake one sheet and check them a little more closely before doing all of them. The second and more important thing is that I made the mistake of slicing some of the dough ahead. Big mistake! They stuck together and made a real mess. Keep the roll in the refrigerator and slice just before you put them on the cookie sheet to bake. That worked well and no more problems. 
  I do think you need to roll the cookie dough roll in the sugar or nuts or something as the dough is sticky. Damping your hands with water will help if you do not want to use the sugar.
  All in all, a good and easy recipe. Try freezing one of the rolls to bake at a later date.
Cherry Icebox Cookies
Chill or freeze: 4 hours
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 (16 ounce) jar maraschino cherries drained and finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped pecans
¼ cup red decorator sugar crystals (optional)
  Beat butter until creamy; gradually add 1 cup sugar; beating well. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.
  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture, beating well. Pat cherries between paper towels to remove excess moisture. Stir cherries and pecans into dough; cover and chill dough at least 2 hours.
  Shape dough into 2 (8x1 ½ inch) rolls. (Roll in decorator sugar crystals or nuts, etc. if desired.) Wrap rolls in wax paper and chill or freeze until firm. (I left over night)
  Slice chilled dough into ¼ inch thick slices using a sharp knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets.
  Bake at 400° (check the first batch for temp) for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Yield: 4 dozen.
Per cookie: Calories 116  Fat 6g  Cholesterol 15 mg  Sodium 73mg

3 comments:

  1. What a great holiday cookie idea! Thanks again for a great post! dkc

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  2. Hi ladies! I'm absolutely in love with your blog... I'm a 30-something girl who has a passion for the type of cooking my grandmother used to do, but it's hard to find those type of recipes without a ton of 'cream of' soups or jello mixes. Thank you so much for helping me resurrect scratch cooking & baking!
    Anyway, I noticed that your recipe called for red sugar crystals, but I couldn't find how to use them in the recipe. Any help you could provide would be incredible :)

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    Replies
    1. The sugar crystals are the colored sugar that is for rolling your dough roll in before putting it in the fridge. It is optional. Myrna used red ones in the photo.
      Thanks for noticing that she didn't mention it in the recipe...I will correct that omission.
      Glad you are enjoying the blog...those are the kinds of recipes we like too...just real food without a lot of preservatives, additives, high fructose corn syrup, etc., etc.

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