This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These cherry cookies are a tangy and soft cream cheese sugar cookie encrusted with crunchy pecans and enhanced with a touch of almond extract and cherry. Distinct and delicious, this is easily your new favorite chewy cookie recipe!
Soft and bursting with almond flavor! The inside of these cherry cookies is impossibly chewy while the chopped pecans add a satisfying crunch. The beautiful maraschino cherries on top are the ideal accent to round out not only their taste, but also give them a festive flair!
These tried-and-true cookies are tied in first place with my Mom’s Gingerbread Cookies for my favorite Christmas Cookie of all time! The balanced texture and full flavor of cherry cookies keeps them in rotation at my house every month of the year. You could even pair them with pecan tassies and old fashioned date pinwheels for a varied yet pecan-themed cookie assortment this summer!
Why you’ll love this easy cherry cookies recipe:
- Super simple and speedy. You’ve landed on a no-chill recipe that takes about 10 minutes to prep, and 10 to bake.
- Unique flavor. Cherries and almonds are the perfect pair (in fact, cherry pits have an almond flavor!), which is why the hint of almond extract in the cream cheese sugar cookie base puts these cookies over the top!
- Small size & high batch yield. This straightforward recipe makes 4 dozen cookies! And, much like my pignoli cookies, the small size and addicting flavor make them perfectly poppable.
Professional Tips for the Best Maraschino Cherry Cookies:
- Let the flavors meld. The flavor actually improves after sitting, which also makes cherry almond cookies a great addition to any Christmas cookie platter or holiday cookie shipment.
- Cream cheese makes these extra chewy. Don’t substitute the cream cheese. Cream cheese behaves differently than butter when baked, which makes cookies thicker and chewier than using butter alone, even without underbaking. The added tang also keeps them from being too sweet.
- Portion cookies to be about the same size. Whether you use a cookie scoop or a spoon, keeping your cookies about the same size will help with uniform baking.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter: I use unsalted butter in baking to control the saltiness, just like I do in my this buttery Scottish Shortbread Recipe.
- Cream Cheese: Cream cheese in cookies gives them a soft, chewy texture. It also adds a nice tang and rounds out some of the sweetness. I always use full fat cream cheese, but you could use reduced fat as well. Just not whipped!
- Whole Egg: The eggs are here to add fat, moisture and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and helps keep the cookies chewy.
- Almond Extract: Almond extract is here for flavoring. I love this almond extract brand in particular. Almond and cherry are a match made in heaven, as is evidenced by this Cherry Almond Pound Cake complete with a cherry glaze!
- All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to make a chewy, soft chewy cookie.
- Pecans: I love to use Southern pecans in baking, but any chopped pecans will do. If you keep them for longer than a month or your kitchen is consistently warm, store them in the freezer to preserve freshness.
- Maraschino Cherries: Maraschino cherries are preserved cherries that are soaked in a sugar syrup and dyed bright red. They are softer than candied cherries. Maraschinos are also what I use in my cherry pistachio snowballs! You could substitute maraschinos for dried cherries, which are also useful for other cherry cookie recipes, such as my No Bake Chocolate Cherry Brandy Balls!
- Granulated sugar
- Kosher salt
- Baking soda
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations & Substitutions
- Nuts: Obviously these are made with chopped pecans, but walnuts or hazelnuts would be delightful! You could also toast your pecans prior to rolling for an extra flavor boost.
- Almond Extract: Some people, myself not included, are not in love with the flavor of almond extract. You could use vanilla extract or another complementary extract that you do enjoy, such as orange.
- Mix everything in! That’s right, just add those chopped nuts and chopped maraschino cherries right into the dough after adding the flour. Scoop, bake and enjoy! This would also be a great opportunity to add some chocolate chips! I suggest mini ones due to the size of the cookies.
How to Make Cookies with Cherries
Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below!
Make the cookie dough:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350° F conventional or 325°F convection. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place chopped pecans in a bowl.
If you don’t have a food processor, put your pecans in a zip-top baggie or piping bag and crush them with a rolling pin. I like to place the baggie on a cutting board to protect my counter.
Step 2: Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Step 3: Cream butter and cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl or in a stand mixer. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Stir in the almond extract.
Step 4: Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture gradually, in 3 additions, mixing well after each. Form into a rough, cohesive dough.
Portion & bake:
Step 5: Shape dough into balls about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Roll in a bowl of chopped pecans, pressing to make sure pecans adhere. Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Gently press a cherry half in the center of each cookie while slightly flattening the top.
If you aren’t going to use cherries, gently flatten the top of each ball with two fingers.
Step 6: Bake for 7-10 minutes. You don’t want to overbake them, so make sure to watch as you get closer to 7 minutes. They are done when the edges just begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.
If you opt to add the cherry after baking instead of before, I’ve found that they can look doughy after you press the cherry in the center. It doesn’t impact the cherry flavor much. It compresses the crumb and makes it look underbaked when it wasn’t. If you baked them for 10 minutes and they weren’t XL, then they were definitely baked.
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
For even taller, chewier cookies, cover your dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour prior to baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store baked cookies in a sealed container for 3 days at room temperature, up to 10 days refrigerated. You can freeze these baked cookies for up to 1 month. For longer storage and the freshest cookies, store the rolled cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bake directly from frozen.
Chilling is only truly ‘required’ when butter in the dough was melted, which it was not in this case. However, chilling this dough before baking will create thicker, chewier cookies and also give more time for the flavors to meld. I find it best to scoop the cookie dough and chill in balls, because it is easier to manipulate before it solidifies.
These cookies ship wonderfully. Package in a decorative tin or just place in a zip-top bag in a mailer box. They keep for 10 days and they stay chewy for almost as long. The larger the cookie, the longer they stay chewy!
If you’re opting to use fresh cherries in this recipe, a cherry pitter will make quick work of pitting the cherries! If you don’t have one, I find slicing the cherries in half then pulling out the pit with my nail works quicker than using a straw or skewer.
If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Cherry Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups finely chopped pecans
- 36 marachino cherries halved
Instructions
Make the cookie dough:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F conventional or 325°F convection. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place chopped pecans in a bowl.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Stir in the almond extract.
- Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture gradually, in 3 additions, mixing well after each. Form into a rough, cohesive dough.
Portion & bake:
- Shape dough into balls about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Roll in a bowl of chopped pecans, pressing to make sure pecans adhere. Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Gently press a cherry half in the center of each cookie while slightly flattening the top.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes. You don’t want to overbake them, so make sure to watch as you get closer to 7 minutes. They are done when the edges just begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
Check out our other delicious, chef-developed Cookie Recipes or try these Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies next!
Hello! Would you consider making these cookies with dried Montmorency cherries? Please don’t think that you have to humor me – if that would not work out as well as the marascinos, let me know. Thanks
Hi Andrea! You could definitely make these with dried montmorency cherries. They would have a nice tang to them. You could keep them dried, or rehydrate them slightly (being sure to pat them dry before adding them to the cookies). Happy baking!
These cookies look awesome. They are moist, but with the cream cheese in them, I really did cook them for pretty much the 10 minutes, or they seem doughy in the very middle. I just watched that they didn’t burn on the outside.
Hi Judy, I’ve also found that they can look dough after you press the cherry in the center. It compresses the crumb and makes it look underbaked when it wasn’t. If you baked them 10 minutes and they weren’t XL, then they were definitely baked. On a side note, I’m delighted that you found these cookies! They are one of my favorites from childhood.
Truly appreciate the way you made this wonderful cherry pecan cookies. Everything is so nicely described which really helped me. Thanks and i am looking for more such yummy recipes in future too.
These are my secret favorite!
I made them slightly smaller… really get those nuts squished in or they fall off. More cherry would be good too.
These look so good! Everything I love all rolled up in one cookie! Just curious, is it really only 3 oz of cream cheese or should it be a whole 8 oz package? I have all the ingredients and plan to try them soon!
Hi Tessa! It is just 3 oz. Isn’t that odd?! I use Philadelphia cream cheese and they have those markings on the side and I just cut off 3 ounces! The original recipe calls for “1 (3 ounce) package of cream cheese, so I assume that it used to come in smaller packages! My great-grandmother’s pecan tassies and my chocolate version, only call for 2 ounces of cream cheese if you are looking for another recipe to use most of the remainder! Happy baking! Enjoy!