Last Week's Sweet - Cherry Butter Cookies

Last week's sweet was Cherry Butter Cookies.  I made half with nuts and half without because my son doesn't like any type of nuts.  I have to put his no nut sweets in  a separate container and label them so that my DH won't eat them all. 

These are one of my favorite cookies because I love cherries and I also love the texture.  They aren't ooey gooey like chocolate chip, but instead have more of a shortbread texture.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans which is what I use)
10 ounce jar of chopped maraschino cherries  (drain all the juice off and rinse them well or they will have a chemical taste)


Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, mix together the butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Mix in salt, then stir in flour by hand until dough is stiff. Add the walnuts and cherries, and mix into the dough.
3.Roll dough into ping pong sized balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press down balls with a fork to make a criss cross pattern on top.
4.Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven. Let stand on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.
These are really pretty cookies for the Holidays and also for Valentine's Day because of the red from the cherries.  They are very festive.  And you could also make a batch with the green cherries available during the Christmas season - then you'd have red and green cookies.
I think I'll try that and see how it comes out.

I've entered this recipe in a contest that our local newspaper is having for holiday cookies.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.