Melt-in-your-mouth almond snowball cookies with a maraschino cherry surprise and coconut coating will soon be your new favorite cookie.
How would you describe your best cookie? For me, it’s texture and flavor. Flavor is pretty self explanatory. I have a lot of favorite ingredients – chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, lemon, marshmallows, cherries. Unless there’s anise extract or the cookie was poorly executed, chances are the cookie ranks pretty high on my list. That’s where texture comes into play. My two favorite textures are chewy (think chocolate chip cookies) and melt-in-your-mouth (think shortbread). Today I am focusing on melt-in-your-mouth goodness and am beyond excited to share these Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies with you. Seriously, these are probably the best cookies I’ve made all season, and that’s saying a lot when I made triple peanut butter cookies last month. How can something so delicate and small leave your taste buds wanting more? I’m not sure, but you need to make at least several dozen of them to try.
I first saw the idea for these cookies on Pinterest, which led me to Taste Of Home. The original recipe called for quick oats, but I didn’t feel like it belonged, so I substituted ground almonds instead. Almonds and maraschino cherries complement each other so well. Have you ever smelled almond extract before? It smells just like maraschino cherries. After baking and cooling (assuming you didn’t taste test them all), the cookies get a lovely bath in glaze and coconut. It’s a little bit of a messy process, but I promise it’s worth every bite.
Snowball cookies make a great homemade gift from the kitchen. I mailed some to a friend recently, so they pass the “can these be mailed” test. You can also package them in a candy box and give them like a box of chocolate covered cherries (except without the chocolate, of course). Or maybe a box of truffles makes a better analogy. Either way, if you gave me a box of these cookies, you’d be my new best friend.
Equipment you may need (Amazon affiliate links):
Melt-in-your-mouth almond snowball cookies with a maraschino cherry surprise and coconut coating will soon be your new favorite cookie.
Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
Glaze
Instructions
Source: Adapted from Taste Of Home
—-
If you liked these Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies, you may also like these recipes:
From me:
From others:
Jen @ Juanita's Cocina says
My favorite cookie, indeed! And I would know!
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
I have no doubt that these cookies would leave me wanting a dozen more. I love the surprise filling. Pinned.
Renee says
Gorgeous cookies Carla! And you know you had me at coconut and cherry. Oh such deliciousness.
Tracie says
Could you use dried cherries instead? I detest maraschino cherries. The cookies sound delicious.
Carla says
Hmm I wouldn’t use dried. You can try fresh or frozen (thawed) cherries. You can also use candied cherries (but I personally don’t like candied cherries much).
Marti Richards says
YUM! These sound perfect for me and the kiddos to make! Thank you for the recipe!
Dina says
i made a cookie like this a few years ago. they were yummy. i like the addition of almond. would make it even better!
Mary says
Made these with the kids (2 and 4). They loved putting the cherries inside the dough and rolling them into balls. They also had a blast drizzling on the glaze and sprinkling on the coconut. Of course they especially enjoyed eating them.
Melissa says
I’ve made these twice now and everyone seems to love them! I find the longer they sit out the better they taste. I generally make them two days before an event. It seems that the dough soaks up the cherry flavour the longer they sit out. I will definitely be baking these again
Carla Cardello says
Oh great tip! My cookies didn’t last long enough to know ;) thanks for sharing.
Hockey Mom says
Delicious. Will definitely make again. Will try orange juice instead of milk in the glaze.
Carla says
Oh I like your thinking with the orange juice :)
kathy says
Can these be frozen?
Carla says
Honestly, I haven’t tried it. I know you can freeze snowball cookies in general, so I would guess yes.
Cecile says
I’ve been making cookies similar to this since my sons were kids BUT I’ve never seen a recipe that includes coconut & cherries. AND I LOVE IT!! I can’t wait to make these. And wanted to tell you that your photography is simply stunning!! Kudos!! ; o )
Carla says
I love maraschino cherries, so I thought the hidden middle would be a nice surprise. And thank you so much! That means a lot.
Kim says
Made these little bad boys and now I am addicted! This recipe is a keeper so will be making them every year. Thank you for this recipe
Carla says
Thanks for the feedback! Glad you loved them.
Laura says
I made these a couple of years ago for a bake sale at work. Every one LOVED them! Now I’m told I “have to” make them every year. My husband hides them so my brother in law won’t eat them all.
Carla says
The best compliment! Thanks for sharing, Laura. Happy Holidays!
ccg says
Do you think candied cherries will work, they’re in a little corn syrup, not dried, but not in a jar with cherry juice. Thanks.
Carla says
I haven’t used candied cherries, but I think they’d be ok!
Jill says
I’m always looking for new Christmas cookies to try. These might be it! I agree that almonds are a much better idea than quick oats. Great switch!
Carla says
Let me know if you try them!
Mike Hultquist says
These are so PERFECT! Making them again to bring to Grandma’s house for Christmas. Nice!
Carla says
Happy to hear it!
Mary Bostow says
These are one of our absolute favorite cookies ever. I can never get enough cherry anything.
Carla says
Glad you enjoyed them!