Recipe Review - Cherry-ettes

I love cherries! Fresh, frozen, in pastries, in cookies, and recently, in bread. In fact, I have more of that bread in the oven right now! And, one of my favorite cookies that we do for Christmas every year is the Cherry-ettes. I have no idea from where they originally came, but my family has had them as part of our regular holiday fair for as far back as I can remember. It helps that they are simple to make, pretty to look at, and so so yummy. If you try them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Cherry-ettes

Ingredients - 1 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp almond extract, 2-1/4 cup flour, and 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries. For the glaze, you'll need an additional 1 cup powdered sugar, 3-4 Tbsp cherry juice (from the jar), and 1 tsp vanilla.

Add the first 6 ingredients in a bowl, and knead by hand to form a dough. Add in the cherries and mix in gently. Really, by hand is best, but use your mixer on low if you'd like.
The original recipe had you making large teaspoon sized balls by hand, but I use a cookie scoop, which is so much quicker and all the cookies end up pretty uniform, but it's up to you. Place balls or scoops onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 15-17 minutes in a 350 degree oven, just until the bottoms are golden. Let cool before frosting.

To make the glaze, just mix the 3 ingredients, adding more juice to thin to your liking. This is meant as a glaze, so it will be a bit runny. Of course, if you want it thicker, it's easy to adjust with more powdered sugar or vice-verse with more juice. Dip the whole cookie's top in the glaze and set out on waxed paper to set.
Be warned.. it will make pink puddles of icing around the cookies, but they will set up. I'm sure you could glaze them and set them on a drying rack to drip onto a tray too, but I don't mind the pink goo.. as it pools around the cookie and, as it dries, it seems to help 'glaze' the bottoms of them too. I let mine set out overnight and have never had an issue. That's it! Then you enjoy, including all the bits of set up glaze on your wax paper.. man is it yummy with vanilla ice cream. I must admit, I've literally been caught licking the paper after the cookies are put away. Yum!