Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies are a delicious soft and tender cookie that tastes incredible. This recipe for almond shortbread cookies is made with tasty coconut flakes, juicy cherries and sliced almonds on top.
These soft and delicate cherry shortbread cookies will quickly make their way into your heart and become your next go-to recipe. The almond and cherries in this treat produce wonderful flavor that compliment the subtle coconut, these almond cherry shortbread cookies are simply divine.
What Are Cherry Almond Coconut Shortbread Cookies?
It is not a cookie you will see on the grocery store shelf in premade packages, but it is one you can easily make in your own kitchen. With a jar of maraschino cherries, a little almond extract, and some coconut flakes you can easily make these slice and bake cookies with a little effort and patience. These unique cookies are a combination of flavors and textures that compliment each other so well, give them a try and see just how amazing they taste!
WHY WE THINK YOU SHOULD TRY THIS RECIPE TODAY
In case you were not convinced yet to give this recipe a try, here are a few more reasons to do so.
- Amazing flavor. The combination of flavors is one you will not soon forget. The cherry mixed with the crunchy almonds and the coconut flakes, makes for an incredibly delicious treat.
- Simple to make. This recipe is easy to make, don’t let the pictures fool you. They look like a lot of effort, but really they are so simple and come together quickly. They are worth it!
- Basic ingredients. Another great thing about this recipe is that most of the ingredients are probably already in your kitchen. Using pantry staple ingredients like sugar, flower, baking powder, and salt gets you half way to making these amazing cookies.
Cherry Almond Coconut Shortbread Cookies Ingredients
Butter: You need 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened, to create wonderfully rich tasting cookies. While these are better with unsalted butter, you can use salted butter and simply omit the requested salt in the recipe so that they don’t turn out too salty.
Sugar: Using 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in the cookie dough and a little bit of turbinado sugar for the topping, we get a sweet (but not too sweet) cookie that tastes great!
Maraschino cherries: Add 1/4 cup maraschino cherries, chopped, for bursts of flavor in every cookie.
Almond extract: Using 1 teaspoon of almond extract will add a depth of flavor in the cookies that is incredibly delicious.
Cherry extract (optional): This is an optional ingredient, but adding in 1/2 teaspoon of cherry extract really does make the cherry flavor more pronounced in the dough.
Flour: The base of the cookie dough is 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
Baking powder: Adding in 1 teaspoon of baking powder will help the cookies puff up during baking so that they are nice and pillowy.
Salt: To help balance all the wonderful flavors in this cookie, add in 1/4 teaspoon of salt. If you used salted butter, leave this measurement out.
Coconut flakes: Use 1 cup of sweetened coconut flakes to help add texture and sweetness to these amazing cookies.
Sliced almonds: Using 1 cup of sliced almonds on top of the cookies adds a nice appearance and crunch.
How to Make Cherry Almond Coconut Shortbread Cookies
Cookie dough
Start by creaming the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Then, add in the almond and cherry extract and mix again.
Next, add the flour, baking powder, and the salt and mix to combine. Continue to mix together until soft dough forms.
After that, stir in the chopped cherries and the coconut flakes until all the ingredients are well distributed.
Chill dough
Proceed to divide the dough in half and lay out on two pieces of wax paper. Continue to form each ball of dough into an 8 inch long log.
Wrap the dough logs in the wax paper and put in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Bake
After the dough has chilled and you are ready to start baking, start preheating the oven to 300 degrees F.
Pull the cookie dough out of the fridge, un-wrap and cut the dough logs into ¼ inch thick slices with a sharp knife.
Arrange the cookie slices on baking sheets lined with parchment at least 2 inches apart.
Sprinkle the tops of each cookies with turbinado sugar and a few slices of almonds.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until they are a pale golden color.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Serve and enjoy!
Cherry shortbread cookies are delicious, but adding flaked coconut and almond extract is an incredible twist you can’t live without. With soft and tender cherry cookies and that little sprinkling of sliced almonds and sugar on top you’ll find that these cookies quickly make their way into your top favorites list.
I’m a sucker for a good shortbread cookie. I’m guessing it’s all the butter- you can’t help but enjoy the delicate crispness of these little treats! The almond and cherries produce a nice flavor that compliments the subtle coconut. They’re delicious.
What Are Cherry Almond Coconut Shortbread Cookies?
It’s not a cookie you’ll see on the grocery store shelves in premade packages, but it is one you can easily make in your own kitchen. With a jar of maraschino cherries, a little almond extract, and some fresh flaked coconut you can easily make these slice and bake cookies with a little effort and patience.
Cherry Almond Coconut Shortbread Cookies Ingredients
Recipe adapted from Mad Tad MD
-Butter: While it’s better with unsalted butter, you can use softened salted butter and simply omit or reduce the requested salt in the recipe so that they don’t turn out too salty.
-Sugar: Using half a cup of granulated sugar in the cookie dough and a little bit of turbinado sugar for the topping, we get a sweet (but not too sweet) cookie that tastes great!
-Maraschino cherries: Jarred maraschino cherries are found in the grocery store and are pretty sweet, chop a few up and place them in the dough for cherry chunks and bursts of flavor in every cookie.
-Almond extract: Using almond extract we can get a new layer of depth ad flavor in the cookies that we wouldn’t get with vanilla. That said, you can use vanilla and still get tasty cookies!
-Cherry extract: This is an optional ingredient, but it really does make the cherry flavor more pronounced in the dough.
-Flour: The base of the cookie dough is all-purpose flour.
-Baking powder: This is the leavening agent to make the cookies puff up a little during baking so that they’re delicious and pillowy.
-Salt: Salt helps to make the other flavors taste better in recipes, if you’re using salted butter you may wish to omit this additional bit of salt.
-Coconut: We want to use sweetened flaked coconut to help add texture and sweetness to these cookies.
-Sliced almonds: Using sliced almonds on top of the sliced cookies adds a nice appearance and crunch.
How to Make Cherry Almond Coconut Shortbread Cookies
Cream your butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add in the extracts and mix again.
Add in the flour, baking powder, and the salt.
Beat the mix together until it forms a dough.
Stir in the cherries and the coconut until well distributed.
Divide the dough in half and lay out some wax paper. Form each ball of dough into an 8 inch log.
Wrap the dough logs in wax paper and chill the dough for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Preheat your oven to 300F degrees.
Cut the dough logs into ¼ inch thick slices with a sharp knife.
Arrange the cookie slices on parchment lined baking sheets at least 2 inches apart.
Top the cookies with turbinado sugar and one of two almond slices.
Bake the cookies on the top rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until they are a pale golden color.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Cherry Almond Coconut Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup maraschino cherries chopped
- 1 tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp cherry extract optional but super yummy
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- sliced almonds and turbinado sugar for cookie topping
Instructions
- Cookie dough: Start by creaming the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then, add in the almond and cherry extract and mix again.
- Next, add the flour, baking powder, and the salt and mix to combine. Continue to mix together until soft dough forms. After that, stir in the chopped cherries and the coconut flakes until all the ingredients are well distributed.
- Chill dough: Proceed to divide the dough in half and lay out on two pieces of wax paper. Continue to form each ball of dough into an 8 inch long log. Wrap the dough logs in the wax paper and put in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Bake: After the dough has chilled and you are ready to start baking, start preheating the oven to 300 degrees F. Pull the cookie dough out of the fridge, un-wrap and cut the dough logs into ¼ inch thick slices with a sharp knife.
- Arrange the cookie slices on baking sheets lined with parchment at least 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the tops of each cookies with turbinado sugar and a few slices of almonds.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until they are a pale golden color. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Can cherry almond shortbread cookies be made in advance?
You can make the cookie dough for this recipe up to a week in advance. It is perfect for allowing the cookie flavors to truly develop and for getting to enjoy baked cookies on a busy day by planning ahead.
Can I freeze cherry shortbread cookies?
Yes, these cookies can be frozen in dough form by wrapping the dough logs well and sticking in the freezer for up to 3 months. The cookie can also be frozen after they bake and are finished cooling.
Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies are a delightfully soft and delicate cookie that tastes amazing. This recipe for almond shortbread cookies is made with coconut flakes, cherries with almonds on top.
Kurinji says
cookies looks delicious…