Cherry-Almond Delights!

Ok, so the recipe title is actually Strawberry-Almond Thumbprint Cookies, but I thought they were delightful, and I substituted cherry preserves for the strawberry (an excellent decision on my part, if I say so myself.) Other than the one substitution, the recipe is pretty straight forward. I will give you a heads-up, though. I refrigerated the dough after mixing it up because it looked sort of "crumbly." I wouldn't advise doing so...the butter re-hardens and makes it quite a bit more difficult to roll into balls.

I made them for my Thursday night book club after I was late last month due to birthday brownies for Mike. I'll even share a few tomorrow with my co-workers since I had some left over.

Keep an eye out for Junior League of Wilmington's new book, which is where I found this recipe, at Cookbook Marketplace. It's definitely a must-have. There a twelve chapters/menus-one for each month of the year!
Strawberry-Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
⅔ cup sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
Strawberry preserves

Almond Glaze
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
4 to 5 teaspoons water

Cookies: Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl on High. Add the sugar, almond extract and flour and mix well. Shape into 1- to 2-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet.  Press your thumb in the center of each ball to form an indentation. Fill with preserves. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes or until light brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Glaze: Combine the confectioners’ sugar, almond extract and water in a bowl and mix until smooth. Drizzle over the cookies.

Makes 3 dozen.

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