I don’t normally make cookies with fruit in them & this cookie is a reminder of why I don’t. I thought they would be really good. I mean maraschino cherries?! Love them. Love the maraschino juice too! Unfortunately it would have been better if I would have just eaten the cherries plain or in a manhattan. The cookies were a bit on the bland side. I didn’t have quality white chocolate so I used white baking chips & honestly that was the best part of these cookies. They just didn’t have that wow factor & I doubt it would have been better with the drizzle.

Cherry Chocolate Stars
Ingredients
1 cup Sweet Cream Butter softened
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Bourbon Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Maraschino Cherry Juice
2-1/2 cups Organic Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour
25 Maraschino Cherries finely chopped
1 cup Pecans finely chopped
1 cup Walnuts finely chopped
8 ounces quality White Chocolate
Instructions
In a large bowl, whip soft butter until fluffy, then cream sugar and vanilla. Dribble in cherry juice and blend in well until mixture looks bright pink.
Sift all the flour over the pink mix and blend gently until dough begins to clump.
Stir in chopped cherries and nuts and continue to mix until evenly distributed.
Divide and gently pack the dough into two balls, seal with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Preheat oven to 350º F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll out dough on a well-floured surface until 1/3” thick. (Dough will be stiff at first, so give it a few minutes for to warm and soften before rolling.)
Using 2- or 3-inch cookie cutter, punch out stars, gently lifting with knife or spatula onto the parchment. Make sure stars are not touching.
Bake for 10-11 minutes, depending on desired softness. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire racks.
Melt white chocolate in a double boiler, stirring regularly until the chocolate is liquid and glossy.
With a soup spoon, drizzle the small stripes of chocolate across the cookies. Let chocolate harden before serving