Cherry Pecan Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cups finely chopped pecans
• 36 marachino cherries, halved

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Sift flour, soda and salt into a medium bowl, whisk briefly to make sure the salt and soda are distributed; set aside.
3. Cream butter and cream cheese in large mixing bowl; gradually add sugar, beating with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Add egg; beat well. Stir in almond extract.
5. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture in 3 additions, mixing well after each. Form into a rough ball shape, cover with plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.
6. Shape dough into balls about 1 ½ inches in diameter, roll in pecans, pressing to make sure pecans adhere. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookies sheets. Gently press cherry half in center of each cookie while slightly flattening the top. If you aren’t going to use cherries, gently flatten the top of each ball with two fingers.
7. Bake 7-10 minutes. You don’t want to overbake them, so make sure to watch as you get closer to 7 minutes. They are done when the edges just begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Notes: