Every year, I buy Hershey kisses to make our classic Christmas cookie, peanut blossoms. Inevitably, I end up with extra Hershey kisses. Which, I could just eat. And sometimes, that’s how the bag gets finished. Other times, they sit in the pantry for far too long. But this year, as I clean out the pantry, I’m not doing that!! I’m using them up! And since peanut blossoms don’t make sense not at Christmas time, I’m making cherry blossoms!
Even better, I’m cleaning out my fridge a bit, because I’ve got maraschino cherries to use up! Somehow I wound up with two jars of them. Now I’m down to one. Which is one more than I need, but at least I’ve got them in there if I feel a sudden urge for an ice cream sundae or an Old Fashioned.
I’m not entirely sure why peanut blossoms are called peanut blossoms. Maybe they look… vaguely like a flower? But because of that name, I’m calling these cherry blossoms.
You can add red food coloring if you want, but I didn’t. And look how pink and cute they turned out anyways! The cherry flavor could have been stronger, but they get major style points.
I’ve never been particularly successful in flavoring things with maraschino cherry juice. Which always surprises me, because it seems like such a strong flavor when you eat a maraschino cherry. But the juice is just not as concentrated as an extract. And it can sometimes do weird things to the consistency of a dough. Luckily, it did not do anything weird to this dough. Just gave it a light pink color and a subtle cherry flavor. No notes.
I am realizing that we are coming up on Valentine’s Day here, and these do look very on brand for the holiday. So why not? I’ll say this was a totally planned Valentine’s Day post.
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PinIngredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 drops red food coloring, optional
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
- Milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar and salt until blended. Beat in cherry juice, extract and, if desired, food coloring. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in chopped cherries.
Shape dough into 1-in. balls. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Immediately press a chocolate kiss into center of each cookie (cookie will crack around edge). Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Notes
Adapted from Taste of Home