A double dose of...recipes!

Two recipes in one day? Yup, this girl is on a roll.

Back in December, as part of my Christmas cookies, I made these almond-cherry ball cookies. Little did I know these were going to be a HUGE hit. Honestly, I wasn't even expecting these to turn out as well as it did. Some people have called them porcupine cookies, amaretti cookies, and cherry cookies. Whatever you decide to call them, try baking it yourself one of these days because these are gooooooooooood.

Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies 

2/3 cup butter, softened                                                         
1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks                                                                            
1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups flour                                                                      
2 egg whites, lightly beaten and reserved

1 cup slivered almonds                                                           
1 cup maraschino cherries, sliced in half

In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat until well combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg yolks and almond extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer, Stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill for about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in egg whites, then in slivered almonds. Press half of a maraschino cherry down into each ball. Bake in the preheated oven for the 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack, cool completely.