White Chocolate Cherry Almond Shortbread

Buttery shortbread cookies with white chocolate, almond, and maraschino cherries. One of my favorite flavor combinations, and these White Chocolate Cherry Almond Shortbread are gorgeous on a holiday cookie platter.

I love cherry and almond things, so I couldn’t pass up sharing these shortbread cookies, in hopes that you love those flavors too. And even better, these also feature white chocolate.

Since they are shortbread, they also heavily feature butter. 🙂 That’s never a bad thing.

It feels like this recipe makes a TON of cookies, and so I froze half. We finished the rest a few days ago, and they are just the best. They freeze perfectly, and they make a large batch so they’re great for sharing… if you can make yourself give them up. The recipe yields about 3 dozen, but they are pretty big, so you could actually cut these smaller to get more mileage.

They’re incredibly easy to make. The dough comes together in just a few minutes – you don’t even need to wait for butter to soften since you use cold butter in shortbread. Throw all the ingredients together, and then just press into a jelly roll pan. That’s the quickest way to make these. No rolling into balls or even dealing with the slice/bake method. Just press into a jelly roll pan, and then cut into squares or diamonds. So, so easy.

They only bake for 15 minutes too, so the prep time is short, and the baking time is also short. They’re a dream cookie in terms of small workload. The white chocolate drizzle.. that’s another 2 minutes.

Cherry and almond together is one of my favorite combos. I never tire of those flavors together, and these cookies are loaded up with finely chopped maraschino cherries and cherry juice. With two types of extracts, cherry and almond, these are quite potent in the flavor department, just how I like them!

There’s also morsels of white chocolate right in the dough. A whole cup’s worth of white chocolate pieces in the cookie dough, and the drizzle on top is a bonus.

They’re pretty and delicious, and this recipe will feed a crowd, so these White Chocolate Cherry Almond Shortbread are a must for the holidays!

5 from 3 votes

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White Chocolate Cherry Almond Shortbread

Buttery, soft, and crumbly shortbread cookies with white chocolate, almond, and maraschino cherries!

Course Cookies

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 3 dozen

Author Sarah @ The Gold Lining Girl

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. cold butter
• 1 - 10 oz. jar maraschino cherries drained, finely chopped, patted dry, reserve juice!
• 12 oz. white baking chocolate very finely chopped, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tsp. cherry extract optional
• sprinkles

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and sugar.
2. Using a grater, grate in cold butter, and whisk together until mixture is crumbly.
3. Add the cherries, 1 c. (8 oz.) white baking chocolate, almond extract, and cherry extract.
4. Stir in enough cherry juice, 1 tbsp. at a time, until mixture just forms a ball.
5. Press evenly into the bottom of a lightly greased 10x15-inch jelly roll pan.
6. Bake at 325 degrees for 13-15 minutes, or until edges are golden brown, and the center feels 'set' when lightly pressed.
7. Remove from oven to cool completely.
8. Cut into diamonds.
9. In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat the remaining white chocolate at 20-second intervals until melted and smooth.
10. Drizzle over shortbread cookies, and sprinkle with sprinkles.
11. Allow to set, and EAT!

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