Cherry Winks

By RoketJSquerl

Cherry Winks are flavored with dates, pecans, and maraschino cherries, and finished with a crunchy corn-flake coating. They have a faint almond-like taste, no doubt from the maraschino cherries.

This recipe is adapted from the the original recipe on the Pillsbury website and yields about 5 dozen cookies. They keep for several weeks when stored in airtight containers at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (a bit more if you’re using Kosher salt)
• 3/4 cup butter (or shortening, if you prefer)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs (consider using pasteurized; see Notes)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1/3 cup chopped maraschino cherries, plus an additional 30 or so halved cherries for garnish
• ~3 cups crushed corn flakes

Details

Adapted from kitchenriffs.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until all ingredients are well incorporated, and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together (a stand mixer works best, although an electric hand mixer works too).
To the mixing bowl, add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat until you have a well-blended mixture.

Add pecans, dates, and chopped cherries, mixing until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Add the flour mixture and beat until well blended.
You can cover and refrigerate the dough at this point (put dough in an air tight container if you are refrigerating overnight) and bake the cookies later, if you prefer.

When ready to bake, drop rounded teaspoons of dough into the crushed cornflakes and toss lightly to coat.

Place the cookies on cookie sheets, allowing an inch of two of space between cookies. Use cookie sheets that are lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats; if you don’t have liners, you can lightly grease the sheets with butter.

Lightly press a piece of chopped maraschino cherry onto the top of each cookie (see Notes).
Bake for about 12 minutes. Cookies are done when they just start to brown. Do not overbake.