Kim's VERY Cherry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ tsp Almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup candied cherries
1 cups white chocolate chips
¾ to 1 cup dried cherries (chopped)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, with electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs , vanilla and almond extract and beat until just combined. Set aside.
Sift together flour, soda, and salt. Add milk to the butter mixture and then add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Batter should be stiff.
In another bowl, combine pecans, dried cherries, and white chocolate chips. Coat this mixture with a light dusting of flour (this helps these pieces to distribute through the dough. Then add to batter, stirring only to blend. I used a small ice cream scooper (about 1 ½ inch or 2 inch scoop) and then rolled the cookies into balls. This helps the cookies not to spread so much and remain thicker through out the middle of the cookie. This technique produces a more “chewy cookie”, rather than a crisp one.
I got 3 across and 3 down on my cookie sheet. Then with damp fingers, I pressed the cookie down just a small amount, and pressed a candied cherry into the center of each cookie.
Don’t forget to spray your cookie sheet with Pam (or something comparable).
.Bake for approximately 11 to 13 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
I got 28 out of my batch of dough.

First , it should be said that the basic recipe for this cookie was from Paula Dean, Food Network, White chocolate cherry chunk cookie recipe.
I made some changes, that, I think, makes this an amazing holiday cookie (if I do say so myself).
We don’t keep Macadamia nuts in the house. I laid in scads of pecans and walnuts in store for my baking this year. I’m planning on using the walnuts for Walt’s favorite chocolate/toll house cookies, so I elected the pecans for this cookie. It turns out, it was the right choice. The pecans are the perfect marriage with the slightly sophisticated aura of this cookie.
The almond extract lends a smattering of exotic flavor to the cookie part of this tasty morsel.
The white chocolate chips are very sweet, almost too sweet for me…but then there is something else. The dried cherries are sour and break the sugary aspect of the cookie. This gives the cookie something Ina Garten (of Barefoot Countessa fame) calls “depth of flavor”.
The candied cherry in the middle makes the cookie look festive, but when you eat it, especially if you save it for “last” , it’s like eating the maraschino cherry at the end of a high ball.

Until Next time:
Eat something wonderful
And live a life worth loving.
-Kim