Vanilla Cherry Ball Cookies

I received free product from Imperial Sugar, Dixie Crystals and Bob’s Red Mill as part of The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange. As always, all opinions and recipe are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support The Foodie Patootie!

You might have noticed a bit of quiet around these parts lately, but I promise for good reasons, one of which is that I haven’t felt inspired and haven’t wanted to even cook lately. Another reason is that my husband and I moved! So maybe details coming later…

What got me going again was an email I received from Erin of Speckled Palate. She was inviting me to participate with over 50 bloggers for The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange and Giveaway and if there’s one time of year where I jump into flour and sugar and butter and vanilla extract, it’s the holidays. Traditionally, I’m more into cooking than baking, but I can get down on some baking when the mood strikes.

But, no matter how gung ho I feel about baking at any particular moment, it has to be simple. First, my dishes are fairly simple anyway – it’s how I operate – but the more complicated the baking good, the more likely it’s not going to come out how I’ve envisioned. It’s just a fact I’ve come to understand and accept.

So what I have for you today are Vanilla Cherry Ball Cookies! This four-ingredient cookie can be bite-sized (or not, depending on how skilled you are at closely wrapping maraschino cherries in dough) and in either case, takes no time at all. They can be made any time of year, but during the holidays, red and green sprinkles are involved. Also holiday cooking tins because there are the kind of cookie you need to share with co-workers, neighbors, family, friends, everyone.

What basically amounts to a vanilla sugar cookie encloses a maraschino cherry that’s sweet as candy and then, once baked and cooled, is dipped into a simple vanilla icing. Wrap, bake, dip, pop (in your mouth), and your holidays are made.

These cookies have been made yearly by my mom for a long time and we don’t exactly know the origins of them other than we think they are a popular cookie in the Netherlands. So there you go!

And, just like I mentioned, there are 50 other bloggers who want nothing more than to share their cookie recipes too (below). The best part for all you readers is that we have teamed up to offer quite the giveaway. Make sure you check out the recipes, enter the giveaway, make some cookies, and most importantly: enjoy your holiday season!

Print Recipe

Vanilla Cherry Ball Cookies

Yield: 20 cookies

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

These vanilla cookies have a special surprise - a maraschino cherry in the center. Then, the cookie is dipped in vanilla icing. So good, these bite-sized morsels will delight.

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Maraschino cherries, drained

Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Dough

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric beater, mix butter and sugar until you form a creamy consistency.
3. Add flour, salt and vanilla to the mixture; mix until combined and then continue to mix with your hands to make sure everything is incorporated.
4. One cherry at a time, fold dough around it, using as little dough as possible and making as small a ball as you can.
5. Place cherry balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes, or until dough as hardened.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before handling.

Icing

1. Blend all ingredients together well and dip the tops of the cooled cookies in the mixture.
2. Use sprinkles!

Through Saturday, we are bringing you The Sweetest Season’s Sweetest Cookie Giveaway! We’ve put together an incredible cookie baking prize package that will blow your mind.

row one: Wit Wisdom Food | Beth Cakes | Alyssa and Carla | The Rustic Willow | Chez Catey Lou | Joybilee Farm | Arousing Appetites | The Food in My Beard | Lizzy is Dizzy | Lemon Sugar

row two: The Speckled Palate | The Gift of Gab | think fruitful | Majorly Delicious | Sugar Dish Me | An Oregon Cottage | A Savory Feast | The Foodie Patootie | Twin Stripe | Hidden Fruits and Veggies

row three: Appeasing a Food Geek | DC Girl in Pearls | Bessie Bakes | Brunch with Joy | Cooking With Libby | 2 Cookin Mamas | Lou Lou Biscuit | Me and My Pink Mixer | Wetherills Say I Do | The Little Epicurean |

row four: The Emotional Baker | Cake ‘n Knife | Glisten and Grace | Meredith Noelle | The Secret Ingredient [is love] | SammaSpot | Hey There Sunshine | Natasha Red Blog | Flavors & Sabores | Macheesmo

row five: Beer Girl Cooks | My California Roots | Butchers Niche | The Skinny Pot | Sustaining the Powers | Feast + West | Not Your Average Southern Belle | Vanilla And Bean | Our Life Inspired | That Square Plate

Be sure to check out our blogs to see all of our cookie recipes throughout the week! We’re using the hashtag #sweetestseasoncookies on social media this week, and we’re joining even more bloggers baking cookies, so it’s going to be a grand time!

Now, on to the giveaway!

We picked out a stand mixer and other goodies to make baking this season go smoothly. And, a big thank you goes out to the generous sponsors who helped with The Sweetest Season by organizing, as well as providing products to the participating bloggers and donating some incredible prizes for our giveaway! Be sure to check out Imperial Sugar, Dixie Crystals, Bob’s Red Mill, Cabot Creamery and The Crumby Cupcake for lots of great recipe ideas. And check out Garnishing Co., who designed our graphics.

The Sweetest Cookie Prize Pack is worth $690! See the Rafflecopter below to enter to win this amazing set of cookie baking goodies. The prize pack includes:

• One KitchenAid 5-Qt. Artisan Design Series Stand Mixer with Glass Bowl in Sugar Pearl Silver // $315 value
• One $50 Bob’s Red Mill gift card and one exclusive set of Bob’s Red Mill products: One 5-lb. bag Organic All Purpose Flour, one 5-lb. bag Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, one 40-oz. bag Almond Meal, one 28-oz. bag Sparkling Sugar, one 28-oz. bag Cane Sugar // $95 value
• Two 4-lb. bags of Imperial Sugar/Dixie Crystals granulated sugar, one My First Cookbook and a silicone baking mat // $50 value
• Coupons for $40 worth of Cabot Creamery products, including butter and yogurt // $40 value
• One OXO Good Grips 5-Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl // $35 value
• One Jenaluca Stainless Steel Medium Cookie Scoop // $33 value
• One 2-piece Calphalon Nonstick Baking Sheet Set // $30 value
• One 10” x 15” Stainless Steel Metal Cooling Rack // $25 value
• One 7-piece OXO Good Grips Multi-colored Nesting Measuring Beaker Set // $20 value
• One GIR: Get It Right Ultimate Spatula in Gray // $19 value
• One 5-piece R & M Snowflake Cookie Cutter Set // $10 value
• One OXO Good Grips 11” Balloon Whisk // $10 value
• One OXO Good Grips Silicone Cookie Spatula // $8 value

Giveaway rules:

1. Enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter widget below. Everyone gets a free entry! You can enter multiple times, up to 65 total entries by following the giveaway sponsors on social media. (If you’ve followed in the past, that counts! Just enter the information as prompted.) All entries will be verified. No purchase is necessary to win.
2. The giveaway is open until Saturday, December 19, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. CST. One winner will be chosen at random and e-mailed within 48 hours. Winners must claim prize within 48 hours of initial contact. The retail value of the prize is $690. Prizes listed above are the only ones available.
3. Open to U.S. residents with a valid shipping address only. Must be 18 years of age as of December 5, 2015.
4. To read all giveaway terms and conditions, visit the giveaway terms and conditions page or click the option in the Rafflecopter below to review them.

a Rafflecopter giveaway