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!
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.
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Notes
Recipe adapted from Southern Living’s Christmas Cookies, 1986 Edition.Yield – 4 dozen cookiesTechnique - 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 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. Variations – Try different nuts like toasted hazelnuts or walnuts to lean into the nutty flavor!Storage – Store baked cookies in a sealed container for 3 days at room temperature, up to 10 days refrigerated or up to 1 month baked and frozen. For longer storage and the freshest cookies, store the rolled cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bake directly from frozen.