Name: Cherry Cookies with Vanilla Frosting Dip
Cook time: 9 min
Ingredients: 1 cup shortening; 2 cups sugar; 3 eggs; 1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 5 cups flour + more for flour; 1/2 cup butter; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 tablespoon milk; about 1 cup powdered sugar

These pink cookies are so fun to dip in vanilla frosting. The cookies get their pink color from maraschino cherries, and the frosting is made a little thin, to be the perfect consistency for dipping.

Confession time. Sometimes I fall flat on my face in the kitchen. Not literally, although that would be really funny.

I mean sometimes my cookies are not all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips. Recently, I had this brilliant {I thought} idea to make cookies with sunflower seeds. I even broke one of my cardinal rules and put applesauce in them.

Then I was reminded why those rules are there in the first place. I mean, applesauce in a cookie? What was I thinking?!

I took these really beautiful photos, with sunflowers in the background. It was a little heartbreaking to scrap them, to be honest.

I’ll put them on my facebook page anyway, because that’s the kind of vain person I am.

My decision to scrap the cookie altogether came when my kids came home from school. They emptied their lunchboxes of napkins and leftover baggies, and the only thing left uneaten… was the cookies.

I was obviously thrilled. Robb told me to just throw the whole box of cookies away, because no one is going to eat that sorry excuse for a cookie in this house.

I hate when he’s right.

I went back to the drawing board with this idea that’s been floating around my head for a while, this idea for cute pink heart-shaped cherry cookies.

The funny thing about this whole story is that I like sunflower seeds. They’re delicious. But they make a terrible cookie. Maraschino cherries, on the other hand? Gag. I won’t even eat the one on top of my chocolate milkshake. Maybe one of these days McDonald’s will get the hint and quit giving them to me.

But… maraschino cherries make really delicious cookies. No joke.

You should know, and I promise I am not exaggerating about this, my kids ate almost the entire batch of cookies within the space of an hour. Robb had to fight to get one for himself.

I know after you eat these, you are going to consider making them at other times of the year besides just Valentines Day. Besides, the cherries are far better this way than on top of a milkshake.

Print Recipe

Cherry Cookies with Vanilla Frosting Dip

A cherry flavored sugar cookie with vanilla frosting.

Cook Time9 mins

Author: Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies

Ingredients

For Cookies:

1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
5 cups flour + more for flour

For Frosting Dip:

1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
about 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Remove cherries from jar, reserving juice, and roughly chop them.
Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, cherries and cherry juice, and mix well.
Add salt, soda, and baking powder, and mix well.
Add flour and mix just until incorporated.
Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 3-4 hours. Roll dough on floured surface, to ½" thickness, and cut small shapes.
Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes. (7 min for smaller cookies, and 9-10 for average size cookies) Place on a cooling rack and let cool before serving.
For frosting, melt butter, and combine all ingredients, mixing until smooth. Adjust consistency by adding more milk (to thin) or more powdered sugar (to thicken).