i love this recipe. my great aunt makes them but instead of dusting them with powdered sugar, dips them in red icing (like the buttercream icing on the back of the powdered sugar box) and rolls them in coconut. she also soaks the cherries in rum the night before she makes them.– Good recipe very similar to my grammas. I take the dough and wrap it around the maraschino cherries that have stems and then sprinkle them with red sugar crystals before they bake. Its like cookie covered cherries.– These were wonderful, and a very nice change of pace! I made them at a cookie bake/exchange and they were a huge hit! There were many basic cookies, and alot of chocolate ones, so these really stood out, and looked very festive. Although they were a lot of work, everyone complimented me, and said how they were worth all the work that went into them (of course they weren’t the ones making them – lol). And I made 6 batches of them! Next time, I’ll probably make some prior to the get-together to have for home, and make less to exchange. After all, if I’m going to that much effort, I want some for myself. Thanks for the recipe!– I really liked these. But, of course, I like almost all cream cheese cookies. I didn’t use shortening, I used butter. It seemed to make them a little richer. I also chilled my dough before making them into cookies. The end product was lovely. I had to freeze the survivors in small batches, so I didn’t gorge myself. TIP: You don’t have to sift your powdered sugar here. I measured out what was needed and just ran my big wisk through the sugar. Works like a charm.
Ingredients
1/2 package (8 oz) cream cheese1/2 cup butter flavored shortening2 cups all-purpose flour sifted1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar sifted2 jars (10 oz) maraschino cherries drainedServings:24.
Instructions
In a medium bowl, stir together the shortening and cream cheese until well blended. Stir in the flour, you may need to use your hands to help it form a dough. If the mixture seems too dry, add a couple of teaspoons of water. Cover and chill several hours or overnight.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.Before rolling out the dough, dust the rolling surface heavily with confectioners’ sugar. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 1×4 inch strips. Place a cherry on the end of each strip. Roll up each strip starting with the cherry. Place on prepared cookie sheets and dust with a little of the confectioners’ sugar.Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies should brown slightly. Dust again with the confectioners’ sugar. Allow cookies to cool before serving, the cherries are very hot!