Cherry blink Christmas cookies

Crunchy cereal cookies topped with festive red and green maraschino cherries are a retro Christmas treat.

By Kendra Nordin,?Kitchen Report / December 8, 2012

Cherry Blinks are a cheerful Christmas cookie made with cereal, nuts, and topped with maraschino or candied cherries.

Kitchen Report

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In the middle of the rush to get ready for the holidays, my friend Rebecca stopped by my apartment armed with two shopping bags full of ingredients. As I wrapped presents she worked on these Cherry Blinks for her colleagues at the private school on Beacon Hill where she teaches.

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Kendra Nordin is a staff editor and writer for the weekly print edition of the Monitor. She also produces Stir It Up!, a recipe blog for CSMonitor.com.

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Cherry Blinks aren't a part of my Christmas memory index, but they do bring to mind Christmases of times past when our family Christmas tree was festooned with wildly blinking colored lights. (I'm partial to the calmer, classic white lights now.) The unnaturally bright red and green of the maraschino cherry toppers fit right in with all that sparkles and glows this season.

When I finally stretched out in a chair my cat Cricket climbed into my lap and started purring loudly as if to say, ?Stay here for awhile,? as the apartment filled with the warmth of baking cookies.

Faster than a wink of an eye, Rebecca handed me a mug of peppermint tea and a plate of warm Cherry Blinks. She changed things up a bit from the traditional recipe, using pecans and dried dates. Crunchy and sweet with their festive cherries, these would make a delicious addition to any Christmas cookie platter.

Cherry Blinks

1-3/4? cups cereal (Wheaties, Special K, or cornflakes)

?1/2? cup sugar

1/3? cup shortening

1? tablespoon plus 1-1/2 teaspoons milk

1? teaspoon vanilla

1? egg

1? cup all-purpose flour

1/2? teaspoon baking powder

1/4? teaspoon baking soda

1/4? teaspoon salt

1/2? cup dried dates, chopped

1/2? cup chopped pecans

About 36 candied or maraschino cherries (red and green)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Crush cereal; set aside.

In large bowl, mix sugar, shortening, milk, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in dates and pecans.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into crushed cereal; roll gently until completely coated. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press cherry into each cookie.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or just until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/qPWLwePocpQ/Cherry-blink-Christmas-cookies

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