by sblades Leave a Comment
So I find these wonderful cookie recipes and think, "Eureka, I'll post these for my readers and they'll be so surprised!"
Then someone says "yeah, I love those cookies - been making them for years."
OK, I'm behind the curve on a lot of recipes since I didn't start cooking until later in life than most people (around 40; I know, sad).
This sad, sad story applies to these Cherry Bell Cookies. I'm fascinated with them and think they're the cutest little Christmas cookies I've ever seen.
Hopefully I'll introduce these delightful little cuties to someone who has never heard of them.
Cherry Bell Cookies are easy to make, but it takes a little patience to form the bell if you're new to it. Unfortunately I'm not very artistic at all as you can tell by some of the odd-shaped bells.
Oh wait, there's the Eiffel Tower painting I did at the Wine & Paint party. Of course I'd had a little wine so the painting may not be as good as I remember.
These cookies are basically a really good vanilla butter-sugar cookie, folded a bit at the top with half of a maraschino cherry gently pressed into the bottom of the "bell."
You can be really creative and do some of them with green cherries and some with red - that would be really Christmasy!
If you're looking for something cute and different, you'll like this tasty and pretty cookie for your Holiday plates. (P.S., I found out that after stored in an airtight container, these cookies got better and better. They're hard to stop eating!!)
Cherry Bell Cookies
Yield: 2 dozen
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
Tasty and cute little vanilla butter-sugar cookies that will look great on your holiday platters.
Ingredients
- ¾ C butter, softened
- ½ C granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 ¾ C all-purpose flour
- 12 maraschino cherries, patted dry and halved
Instructions
- In a stand-mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides a couple of times (3-4 minutes). Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla and blend well. Set the mixer speed to low and add the salt, then gradually add the flour ½ cup at a time, scraping down the bowl a couple of times. The dough will be soft and thick.
- Lightly flour a surface and turn out the dough onto it. Form the dough into an 8-inch long log and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before slicing (better overnight).
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Prepare a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice the log into ¼" cookies and place on a cookie sheet. The cookies should be about 2 ½" to 3" round. Let the dough sit on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes to reach almost room temperature.
- To form the bells, fold two edges of the upper half of the cookie over to the middle of the cookie, overlapping just slightly. Make sure the top of the cookie is a little smaller than the bottom half. (see photos of the cookies) Place half of a cherry in the bottom part of the bell to be the "clapper."
- Bake the cookies 10-11 minutes, until they're barely golden around the edges. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Notes
Tips and Stuff:
Spoon the flour into your cup so you don't get too much flour packed by scooping. That way, the cookie won't be dry.
The log will be a shorter, fatter one than usual slice-and-bake cookies. You want a bigger sliced cookie to create the bell successfully.
If the second batch of cookies start getting too soft while you're forming them (since they're mainly butter!), after slicing them put them back in the fridge while the first batch is baking.
These cookies are better the second day. Store in an airtight container
**A good tip: to keep your slice-and-bake cookies round while they're firming up in the fridge, cut a cardboard paper towel roll length-wise, plop the roll of dough into the cardboard roll, then wrap all of it tightly in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge cut side up.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24Serving Size: 1 cookie
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 107Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 52mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
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