Cherry Bonbons

So I only see it fitting to have my first post be about my favorite cookie of all time and therefore the name of my blog: the Cherry Bonbon. This has been my absolute favorite cookie since I have been a very little girl. It was originally made by my Grandma Ethel and then by my mother and now by me. It is not a holiday in my house if a Cherry bonbon has not passed over my lips. This cookie is amazingly sweet and is usually the star of cookie trays that I give out at Christmas; especially for those sugar lovers like myself.




Cherries draining

   As you can see in my about section above, I am a self-proclaimed lover of all things cherry. This recipe along with some of my other cherry recipes was passed down from my Grandma Ethel. She was an amazing baker and was one of those old time cooks that did not necessarily write everything down in a lot of detail. She was just comfortable with her recipes and knew the texture of dough or doneness of a pie without having a written recipe to follow. That is very much how I received this recipe. No amount of time noted to bake the cookie for and very few written instructions. The majority of instructions, I have learned through my mom or my own trial and error. I have tried to write the complete recipe here in detail so you can reproduce this amazing little cherry delight!







Wrapping dough around cherries

  Two very important things that need to be mentioned before starting this recipe. The first is the cherries must be drained very well. I usually drain them for about one hour before starting to make the cookies. The drier they are, the easier wrapping the dough around the cherries will be. That leads us to the next tip. You only want to wrap as much dough around the cherry as it takes to cover it. If you wrap too much, your cookies will not have a nice round shape and the sweetness of the cherry will be lost in all that dough. This process can be tedious but will make all the difference in the finished product.

Cherry Bonbons

Cookies:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
3 jars of maraschino cherries, drained for about 1 hour

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tbsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter and brown sugar together. Add other ingredients. Wrap dough around well drained cherries. Only use enough dough to cover the cherries. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown and you can pick up with your fingers. Allow to cool before glazing.
Mix glaze. If it seems to thick add a tiny bit more milk. Be careful a little goes a long way! Dip each individual cookie in glaze and add sprinkles or decoration if desired. Allow to dry.
These cookies can eaten immediately or they can be frozen in individual layers between waxed paper until
needed or about 1 month.



Easter Bonbons



Christmas Bonbons