Cherry Snowball Cookies
These Cherry Snowball Cookies are the classic holiday treat. Traditional snowball cookies get a twist with a sweet maraschino cherry in the middle of each one. They’re sweet, delicious, and so easy to make.
We love making sweet treats, and when the holidays roll around, we churn them out. After all, it’s a tradition to load up the table with sweets throughout the season. We love making these snowball cookies because they’re a classic recipe with a fun little twist in the center.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It only uses a handful of simple ingredients.
- It’s an easy recipe that anyone can make.
- The snowball cookies and maraschino cherry filling work perfectly together.
- They make great holiday snacks for family and friends.
🛒Ingredients
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe, and you’ll most likely have most if not all of them in your kitchen right now. Anything you don’t have can be found easily at your local grocery store.
All the recipe ingredients are listed here, but check out the recipe card at the end of the post for the exact quantities.
- Powdered sugar
- Butter – room temperature
- Almond extract
- Maraschino cherry juice
- flour
- Maraschino cherries – stems removed
- Extra powdered sugar
🔪 How to Make Cherry Snowball Cookies
Making these cookies is incredibly easy. It’s a basic dough that’s made like any other. The only difference is that you wrap it around a cherry before baking. That’s it!
Step 1: Combine the Wet Ingredients
Cream the butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Then, add the almond extract and 1 tablespoon of maraschino cherry juice. Beat well.
Step 2: Add the Flour
Slowly add 1/3 of the flour at a time to the wet ingredients, mixing between each addition.
Step 3: Make the Cookies
Form about 1 tablespoon of dough in a ball around a cherry and place the cookies on a baking sheet about an inch apart.
Step 4: Bake
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until lightly golden around the edges. Roll in powdered sugar and cool on a wire rack.
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- You can chop the maraschino cherries and mix them into the dough like chocolate chips.
- Try adding an almond along with a cherry to the center of the cookies for a fun crunch.
- Use lemon extract in place of almond for lemon cherry cookies.
If you think these look good, then you’ll love our more traditional butter pecan snowball cookies.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Baking sheet
- Wire rack
🥫 Storage
Store these cookies in an air-tight container for up to a week at room temperature. For longer storage, you can freeze them for up to 2 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container.
💭 Tips
- Add your flour gradually to make it easier to mix the cookie dough.
- Roll the cookies in powdered sugar while still warm so it sticks to the cookies.
- Drain the cherries well so you don’t have soggy cookies in the center.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Cherry snowball cookies are a variation of classic Italian snowball almond cookies that feature a maraschino cherry in the center.
If you don’t drain your cherries well, there will be too much moisture in the center of the cookies, making them sort of soggy.
If your cookies come out flat, you probably needed to chill your dough more. Most snowball cookies require chilling to control their spread while baking.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy cookies? Then try these delicious recipes:
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Cherry Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing Bowl
- baking sheet
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
- 2 cups flour
- 6 ounces maraschino cherries with stems removed
- Extra powdered sugar for rolling cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the almond extract and 1 tablespoon of juice from the cherry jar and beat the ingredients together.
- Slowly add in the flour, about a third at a time and mix.
- Take about 1 tablespoon of dough and form into a ball around 1 cherry. (If the dough is too sticky or soft, place it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.)
- Place on a baking on a sheet 1” apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges.
- Once the cookies come out of the oven, roll in powdered sugar and place on a baking rack to cool.
