Cherry Chip Picnic Cookies

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"In late April, Sheila Naccarato, of Spokane, wrote in looking for a recipe for a cherry white chocolate chip cookie printed in the Spokesman-Review a few years back.

Digging this one out of the archives was easy enough. Waiting for cherries to start cropping up in local produce sections took some time.

This recipe was originally printed on Independence Day 2003, and came to us from the Associated Press and the California Cherry Advisory Boards. It calls for Bing cherries, which the article noted were good for eating and cooking.

The hardest part of this recipe is pitting and halving a cup and a half of cherries, which really isn't very hard at all. It's only a little changed from the standard Toll House cookie recipe, with more flour and sugar to accommodate the added moisture from the cherries."

Carolyn Lamberson, "Cook's Notebook," The Spokesman-Review

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  • 20

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh Bing cherries, pitted and halved
  • 1 (12-ounce) package white chocolate chips

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, almond extract and vanilla.

In a separate medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda; add to butter mixture and stir until blended. Press cherries between two layers of paper towels to remove excess moisture and stir half into the dough with the chocolate chips. Mound rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet; press remaining cherries onto the top.

Bake for about 15 to 17 minutes, or until cookies are set in the center and lightly browned. Let cool on a rack and store in a container with a loose-fitting lid (because of the moisture in the cherries, these cookies should not be stored in a container with a tight-fitting lid).

Nutrition Information:
Per cookie
344 calories
15 g fat (39 percent fat calories)
4 g protein
48 g carbohydrates
50 mg cholesterol
1 g fiber
178 mg sodium

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