Cheery Cherry Cookies

Mom's recipe box contains many cookie recipes. When I found this recipe, I thought it would make a great Christmas cookie. These cookies could be great any time, but they were especially good for Christmas. The cookies are chewy with delicious cherry chunks throughout the cookie.

The recipe calls for topping each cookie with some cherry preserves and a piece of almond. The way these cookies baked up, there was not a good way to get the preserves to stay on the cookie and there was not a need for extra preserves, so I left off the extra preserves and almond. If you want to add the preserves, make a small indent in the middle of the cookie with your thumb before baking.

Cheery Cherry Cookies 

• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cherry preserves
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• cherry preserve (optional)
• halved blanched almonds (optional)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and the 1/4 cup cherry preserves. Thoroughly stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; add to butter mixture, mixing thoroughly. Drop from teaspoon two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes until delicately brown. Let cool on the sheet for one to two minutes before removing. If desired, top each cookie with preserves and almonds. Enjoy!