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 400º. 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