Sometimes you just crave a cookie. I do at any rate . . . and I am a diabetic, so cookies aren't really something I like to keep in the house. They have a habit of getting into my mouth and that's not a good thing. I try hard to be good . . . but sometimes it is just really, really hard to be good.
I adapted the recipe for these delicious Sour Cherry Drop Cookies from one which I found in a book entitled, "The Big Book of Cakes & Cookies," by Hannah Miles. Hannah was a finalist in the Master Chef Competition here in the UK a number of years back. I have all of her cookbooks. She's an incredible baker.
And this is an incredible baking book with 365 recipes for every kind of cake, cookie and bake that you can imagine. I chose these cookies because . . . one . . . there wasn't a terribly high amount of sugar in them and . . . two . . . it only makes 18 cookies which meant that I wouldn't have cookies in abundance to tempt me.
It was a really smart choice also because they are pretty darned tasty cookies! They are soft, with a lovely almond flavor . . . and absolutely stogged full of lovely tart dried sour cherries. I love, LOVE sour cherries. In short . . . these cookies rocked. Sigh . . .
*Sour Cherry Drop Cookies*makes 18Printable Recipe
Soft and delicious and filled with lovely sour cherries .115g of butter, softened (1/2 cup)115g of caster sugar (1/2 cup)2 large free range eggs, separated225g of plain flour (1 1/2 cups plus 2 1/2 TBS)115g of dried sour cherries (3/4 cup)1 tsp almond extract
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter two large baking trays.
Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined. Beat in the egg yolks. Stir in the flour, sour cherries and almond extract. Whip the egg whites until stiff. Fold into the cookie dough batter. Drop by TBS onto the baking trays, leaving space for spreading.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and firm. Lift off onto wire racks to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.
If you weren't a diabetic you could really add another dimension of flavor to these cookies by adding a cherry or almond flavoured drizzle icing. Just whisk together 65g (1/2 cup) of icing sugar with a few drops almond or marachino cherry juice and a bit of milk to make a thick drizzle icing to dribble over top.
Bon Appetit!