White Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Shortbread Cookies

I found this recipe on a post that was shared on Facebook. It sounded and looked delicious but I didn't like the way the brown chocolate chips looked so I changed it up a bit. First, I decided to use white chocolate chips instead of regular chips. Then, I thought green would look great with the red and white. First I considered coloring the dough green then an idea popped into my head. I found a page that describes how to dye white chocolate chips and followed those instructions. If you don't want to dye the chocolate, you can also use green maraschino cherries in addition to the red. I made half of the chips green and followed the rest of the recipe. Also, after I chopped the cherries, I allowed them to drain in a paper towel overnight.

White Chocolate Maraschino Cherries
Adopted from Oh My God Chocolate Desserts

Makes approximately 24 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
2 0.28 ounce packets Dr. Oetker Natural Vanilla Sugar (optional)
½ tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt (if using salted butter, omit the salt)
¾ cup chopped maraschino cherries
⅔ cup white chocolate chips, dyed if desired

1. Mix together flour and salt and set aside. Cream together butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla sugar, about five minutes until light and fluffy. Mix vanilla. Add flour and mix until clumps begin to form. Gently mix in cherries and chocolate.

2. Form the dough into a log, pressing it together well. The log should be about two inches thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge at least 1-2 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the log into ¼ to ⅓ inch slices, pressing any crumbles back together. Place on baking sheet one inch apart. Bake 10-15 minutes until cookies just start to turn lightly golden brown on top. Cool 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.