cherry winks!
It’s all baking around these parts right now, but it’s no surprise, right—it’s the holidays! It’s baking time! Today on our snow day I decided to finally make some cherry winks. These are a traditional holiday cookie in my family, but I realized today that I’ve never made them myself. Mom always made them without me, or before I came home to visit. I love them best!
Cherry Winks
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped pecans, plus more chopped for rolling (probably about 2 cups chopped, total)
1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries, plus maraschino halves to top each cookie
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Beat together the shortening and sugar til blended, then add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Blend in the dry ingredients, then add the dates, 1 cup chopped pecans, and 1/2 cup chopped cherries. Shape into tablespoon-sized balls and roll in chopped pecans. Press one cherry half into each cookie. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 12 minutes or until light golden.
Note I used butter and the cookies are too flaky. I also didn’t have enough maraschino cherries but for some reason didn’t up the amount of chopped dates, and it’s definitely lacking. I will not deviate from the recipe next time!
3 Responses to cherry winks!
I have tried replacing crisco with butter in most of my mother’s recipes. It’s never the same.
We made them this year, too! We roll them in corn flakes.
My mom makes a version of these but without the dates, this version sounds delish!