Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sesame Cherry Cookies

So I saw this recipe many many months ago at a blog called Appoggiatura, and it stuck in my head. I'm awfully glad it stuck...I love these little cookies.
These are possibly my new favorite cookie. Let me rephrase that...these are my new favorite cookie that doesn't contain chocolate.
Her recipe calls for candied cherry (like you use in fruitcake) of which I had none and couldn't find any. I had some maraschino cherries so decided to try those, and also used some black cherry preserves. I liked the preserve ones best. The maraschinos just kinda just jump off the cookie all at one time when you take a bite and you don't get to enjoy a little with each taste.
Here's her recipe:

Sesame Cherry Cookies

  • 1 C butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 2 C unsifted all-purposed flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C sesame seeds
  • 1/3 C (give or take) candied cherry halves

Preheat oven to 400ยบ. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add almond extract, flour, and salt and continue beating until the dough is well-mixed. Do not over-mix the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill it for at least an hour. Chill your cookie sheet, as well. Pour sesame seeds into a bowl. Once the dough is chilled , shape the dough is 1 inch balls. A melon baller or a teaspoon are great to use to help shape uniform cookies.

Roll the balls in the sesame seeds. Place the cookies 1 – 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. If the dough begins to warm up, pop the dough and the cookies in the refrigerator to cool it off. You will probably need two cookies sheets to hold all the cookies.

Press a candied cherry half into the center of each cookie. Bake for 9-11 minutes; the cookies will spread a bit but should not brown.

When done, remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

I got about 22 cookies out of this....I think I would definitely double it next time.

Now a word about sesame seeds. Y'all probably know this already, but when you go to the spice aisle to buy sesame seeds it's over 4 bucks for a bottle (about 1.8oz). But if you go to the Hispanic section where they have all those little packages of spices, it's considerably cheaper. It was 77 cents for 1.25 oz at the store I was at. Guess which one I chose!

Holy Rip-off, Batman!

I got a fun award from Kathy at Three on Food where I get to answer a bunch of questions. Get ready to be fascinated!
Where is your cell phone? in my purse, not being an Iphone
Your hair? eww
Your mother?deceased
Your father? Deceased
Your favorite food? something cheesy, gooey, warm
Your dream last night? a bit violent
Your favorite drink? diet coke
Your dream/goal? not to screw up my kids too much
What room are you in? family room
Your hobby? this
Your fear? let's not go there
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Jamaica
Where were you last night? on the couch
Something you aren't? energetic
Muffins? scones?
Wish list item? um, iphone?
Where did you grow up? Arkansas
Last thing you did? went to get kids at grandma's
What are you wearing? prom formal
Your TV? annoying
Your pets? sbd (small black dog), fish
Your friends? yes?
Your life? mostly peaceful
Your mood? content
Missing someone? sure
Vehicle? mercury
Something you're not wearing? a kilt
Your favorite store? ikea
Your favorite color? brown
When was the last time you laughed? Today
Last time you cried? not sure
Your best friend? going to hawaii without me
One place that I go over and over? work
One person who emails me regularly? Borders
Favorite place to eat? cucina tagliani

24 comments:

Kim said...

Prom formal - LOL! That is excellent. Congrats on your award!! I think I'm gonna post mine tomorrow, a very long post indeed! These cookies sound interesting, I might try them for the new cookie group I joined. Thanks for the tip about looking for sesame seeds in the Mexican aisle, great money savings!!

Monica H said...

"prom formal" made me laugh too :-) congrats on your award!

these cookies would be perfect on a holiday cookie tray. thnaks for the tip on the sesame seeds. I'll be checking my mexican food aisle from now on.

Heather S-G said...

Perfect little bites...love them! Fascinating, indeed ;)

love lives in the kitchen said...

yumm, these cookies look so delicious! i want one right now!
have a great monday!
justyna

Sherri Murphy said...

I like this recipe- I've never seen this one before. And thanks for the tip about the sesame seeds. I Didn't know it and have paid WAY to much in the past.

Kathy said...

How funny! Loved getting to know you better!!!

♥peachkins♥ said...

these cookies look pretty. Congrats on your award..

Mayhem and Moxie said...

Such a great, great recipe. My grandmother used to make something similar when I was a kid.

Thank you for the tasty memories you have brought my way today.

-Francesca

Anonymous said...

Hi Julie, oh What pretty pretty cookies ! I MUST make these over the holidays ...my little girl will be thrilled ... as they're very girlie :) ... Oh & I'm an IKEAHOLIC too btw : )

Anonymous said...

These cookies sound absolutely scrumptious! I love sesame seeds & cherries and I bet these are just terrific together!

Krista said...

What a pretty lil' cookie! I bet those sesame seeds add an interesting crunchy dimension. Thanks for sharing the fun facts. I love learning more about my fellow food bloggers!

Karine said...

Your cookies look so cute and delicious! Great job!

teresa said...

fun! i love getting to know fellow bloggers better! i love these cookies, especially the sesame seeds, how fun!

Katy ~ said...

What a delightful little cookie; so full of eye appeal. I can picture this would be beautiful on a cookie tray with other cookies. Sounds so good. Beautiful picture!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Ha-ha! I loved reading your responses! You're so clever and funny!
~ingrid

The JR said...

The cookies look great. I'd rather make something that gets a good review than experiment.

Ramona

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

Looks great. Love cherries. When, I was a kid, I adored marashino cherries. Did I spell that right?

The Blonde Duck said...

Cookies and a meme! How tasty!

Juliana said...

These cookies look so delicious, love the way that is decorated with sesame and cherry, nice treat! By the way, thanks for visiting my site :-)

noble pig said...

I love this with the sesame...just beautful my friend!

Tiffany @ Eat at Home said...

That's a fun award! The cookies look like fancy thumb print cookies. Yum!

theUngourmet said...

I like the sesame in these! I bet they'd be one of my favorites as well. :0)

Congrats on you award!

The Blonde Duck said...

I hope you have a great weekend!

Carrie said...

How cute are these cookies! They just look like Christmas!