Shortbread has to be one of my favorite holiday cookies. It’s so easy to make, and that melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness is almost impossible to resist. Taking a queue from my candied orange peel shortbread, I’d been wanting to try a festive version with bright red maraschino cherries and chocolate. I was, however, a little torn between whether to use white or dark chocolate, as white chocolate seemed more festive but dark chocolate goes so well with cherries. In the end the easiest solution was to make a batch of both–you can’t have too much shortbread!
Chocolate and Cherry Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients (makes 24+ cookies)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
- 1/2 cup white and/or dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Cream the butter and the sugar.
- Mix the flour and the salt.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until it starts forming larger clumps.
- Mix in the maraschino cherries, white chocolate, and vanilla extract.
- Form the dough into the shape that you want–I made a rectangular log, but a circular one works as well–then wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Cut the log into 1/4 inch thick slices and place them on a parchment-lined baking pan, leaving one inch of space between the slices.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 325 degrees Fahrenheit until the cookies just start to turn lightly golden brown on top, about 10-15 minutes.
- Let cool completely.
