These super soft and buttery Cherry Almond Whipped Shortbread Cookies have a bright red cherry in the center and are irresistible! Bonus: The cookies are whipped together very quickly with a dough that doesn’t require any resting time.
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Cherry Almond Whipped Shortbread Cookies
These buttery, melt in your mouth Cherry Almond Whipped Shortbread Cookies have a delicious red cherry in the center of each cookie. If you are an almond lover, the almond and cherry flavor pair perfectly in this light cookie making it irresistible!
You’ll find that these cookies can easily be made with a handful of simple ingredients and that they take less than 30 minutes of time from start to finish. These whipped shortbread cookies are softer than traditional shortbreads. They are lightly sweetened with the perfect amount of almond and maraschino cherries!
Looking for more whipped shortbread cookies? Check out these Lemon Whipped Shortbread Cookies, Orange Whipped Shortbread Cookies and Key Lime Cookies!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
You only need 8 simple ingredients to make your new favorite cookies!
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- All Purpose Flour
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
- Maraschino Cherries
HOW TO MAKE THESE Cherry Almond WHIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Preheat: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While that’s heating up, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
Mix: In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar for about 3 minutes, until the dough is light and airy.
Add Dry Ingredients: Then, beat in flour, cornstarch, salt and vanilla extract until well combined. Your dough should be nice and soft!
Roll: Start with dusting your hands with cornstarch, that way the dough doesn’t stick to your skin. Then, form dough balls about 1 tablespoon in size and roll them into balls.
Flatten: Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a little room for spreading.
NOTE: These cookies won’t spread too much as they bake, so I’d recommend just keeping them about an inch and a half to 2 inches apart. Then, flatten the cookies with a fork dusted with cornstarch (to prevent sticking.)
Cherry: In center of each cookie, gently press in a maraschino cherry and press with finger until 2/3 of cherry is inside cookie dough disk.
Bake: Bake the cookies for about 14-16 minutes, or until the tops look just set. The cookies will not brown, so be careful not to over bake!
Cool: Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes. After that, move them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
What does the CORNSTARCH do?
The added cornstarch in this homemade cookie recipe actually helps to give them their soft texture. When you combine cornstarch and flour into a mixture, the cornstarch can help to make the baked good lighter and fluffier.
You will have no idea it is there flavor wise, it just gives the cookies a better texture. So don’t skip the cornstarch!
DO YOU HAVE TO FLATTEN THESE COOKIES BEFORE BAKING?
You don’t technically have to, but it’s good to flatten them so that they get baked entirely all the way through. It’s harder for a thick cookie to get evenly baked so this is why you flatten them before popping them in the oven.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST Cherry Almond WHIPPED SHORTBREADS
- Let your butter fully soften before making cookies. If you don’t, the butter will not evenly combine. Leaving you with unevenly baked cookies.
- Make sure to remove all extra juice and water from the maraschino cherries before placing them in the center of the cookies.
- Don’t forget to dip your hands into cornstarch before rolling the dough, or the cookie dough will stick to your hands and cause a mess!
- Watch the baking time. You want these cookies to just be starting to brown right at the edges. The tops will still look under cooked. Pull them out and let the cool on the cookie sheet and they will fully set up!
HOW DO YOU STORE WHIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES?
Once they’re fully baked, you can store these delicious cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days. There’s no need to refrigerate them!
Once you try these Cherry Almond Whipped Shortbread Cookies, you’re going to fall quickly in love! Between the sweet almond flavor, the soft and buttery texture, and bright cherry in the center, they’re downright addicting. I can guarantee you won’t be able to have just one!
Cherry Almond Whipped Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch, plus extra for dusting hands
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 24 maraschino cherries, juice removed and dried with paper towels
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat butter and powdered sugar for 3 minutes, until light and airy. Beat in flour, cornstarch, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract until well combined. Dough will be very soft.
- Dust your hands with cornstarch, then form dough into balls with about 1 1/2 tablespoons worth of dough and roll into a ball.
- Place on lined cookie sheets, leaving a little room for spreading. Cookies will not spread much as they bake. Using a cup that has been dipped in cornstarch, press down lightly on top of each dough ball to flatten the top and create a disk shape.
- In center of each cookie, gently press in a maraschino cherry and press with finger until 2/3 of cherry is inside cookie dough disk.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until tops look just set. Cookies will not brown, but will be done. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a cookie cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Nutrition
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Can you use the dried cherries?
Sure!
These cookies had a very nice flavor, however, they were extremely dry even after following your tips for measuring out the flour.
Can these be frozen ahead for the Holidays
Yes! They can be frozen before baking or after baking for up to 3 months! You can bake the cookie dough balls from frozen directly into the oven, they will probably need an extra couple of minutes of bake time when baking from frozen!
I don’t find the amounts of each ingredient to use. Can’t just guess. Why is this missing?
Hi Rita! The recipe is linked at the very bottom of the post! It’s a black box that says GET THE RECIPE!
they look amazing can’t wait to make them for my church
I just thought I’d point out that you forgot to mention when to add the almond extract. I assumed it would be at the same time as the vanilla extract, and your full recipe confirms it. ☺️Thanks for a great cookie recipe; we can’t wait to try them! Cherry-almond is a favorite flavor combo in my house, and shortbread cookies are my personal favorite!