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Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies

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

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.


Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies

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.


Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies

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.

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Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies

Cherry Coconut Snowball Cookies

Yield: 18 cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Melt-in-your-mouth almond snowball cookies with a maraschino cherry surprise and coconut coating will soon be your new favorite cookie.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup ground almonds
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 18 maraschino cherries, drained

Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 cup coconut flakes

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almonds, and salt.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the water and almond extract. Gradually beat in the flour mixture until a dough forms.
  4. Shape a tablespoonful of dough around each cherry, forming a ball and place about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
  5. For the glaze: In a small bowl, beat together the sugar and milk. In another small bowl, add the coconut. Roll each cooled cookie in the glaze then roll in the coconut. Let the glaze harden before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
© Carla Cardello
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies + Bars

 
Source: Adapted from Taste Of Home
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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • 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).

      Reply

  7. 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.

    Reply

  8. 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

    Reply

  11. 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 )

    Reply

  12. 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

    Reply

  13. 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.

    Reply

  14. 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.

    Reply

  15. 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!

    Reply

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