Soft and Chewy Cherry Almond Sugar Cookies

These soft and chewy cherry almond sugar cookies bake up with golden, crisp edges, tender middles, and bits of maraschino cherry all the way through. A little cream cheese keeps them soft, and the almond flavor is light enough for a Christmas cookie tray or a summer dessert.

These cookies go all the way back to my childhood. Our neighbor made them when I was growing up, and I can still picture them: crisp around the edges, soft and chewy in the middle, with little pink flecks of cherry in every one.

The cherry bits were always the best part! Maraschino cherries were a special treat back then, and finding them baked right into a cookie made it even better.

Now I make them for my own family, and they’ve been a favorite in our house for years. The almond is soft and subtle, so they taste a little fancier than a plain sugar cookie without tipping into marzipan territory.

They’re also easy. There’s no chilling and no rolling pin, and the dough goes from bowl to baking sheet in about 10 minutes.

They’re a regular on our holiday cookie tray, but I don’t save them only for December. The almond flavor is light enough for spring and summer too, and they look so pretty on a dessert table next to a pan of 2-ingredient lemon bars.

What Makes These Soft and Chewy

Cream cheese keeps the centers tender and adds a faint tang under all that sugar.

Melted butter gives the cookies their flavor, and a little oil keeps them soft longer than an all-butter cookie.

Baking soda helps the edges spread and turn golden, while baking powder gives the middles a little lift.

Patting the chopped cherries dry keeps extra juice out of the dough, so the cookies bake up evenly instead of wet and streaky.

Pulling them from the oven while the centers still look soft lets them finish setting on the hot pan, so the edges crisp and the middles stay chewy.

Ingredients for Cherry Almond Sugar Cookies

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 ounces cream cheese, cut into small cubes
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup maraschino cherries, finely chopped and patted dry

How to Make Cherry Almond Sugar Cookies

Prep the Oven, Pans, and Cherries

Heat the oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Chop the maraschino cherries into small pieces, about the size of a pea or smaller, then spread them on a paper towel and press another towel on top to soak up the extra juice.

Small pieces spread through the dough evenly, so every cookie gets a few bites of cherry. Bigger chunks hold onto their juice and can leave wet, pink pockets in the finished cookie.

Whisk the Dry Ingredients

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. A wooden spoon is all you need. The goal is to get the leaveners evenly mixed through the flour so no one bites into a bitter pocket of baking soda.

Beat the Sugar, Cream Cheese, and Butter

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, cream cheese, and melted butter until smooth. I use my stand mixer for this and leave it running on low while I add everything else.

The warm butter softens the cream cheese as it mixes, so the cubes don’t need to sit out first. Keep going until there are no white flecks of cream cheese left.

Add the Oil, Then the Egg

Pour in the oil and mix until it’s fully combined. The mixture will look glossy and a little looser than you might expect for a sugar cookie. Add the egg and mix until it’s completely worked in.

Stir in the Cherry Juice, Almond, and Cherries

Add the cherry juice, almond extract, and chopped cherries, and mix until the cherries are spread through. The juice tints everything a pale pink.

Add the Dry Ingredients a Little at a Time

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in a few additions and mix until a soft dough forms. Stop as soon as you can’t see any dry flour.

This dough is very soft and sticky, and that’s exactly right. If you measured everything as written, don’t add more flour to stiffen it up. Extra flour gives you a drier, puffier cookie, and you lose the chewy middle.

Roll and Bake

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie and roll it into a ball. A cookie scoop makes this a lot less messy. Space the balls about 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets, since they spread as they bake.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges turn golden and the tops look set. The middles should still look soft and a little pale. If you wait for the centers to look done in the oven, they’ll be overbaked once they cool.

Let Them Rest on the Pan

Don’t skip this part. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before you move them. Straight out of the oven they’re so soft they’ll sag right through the gaps in a cooling rack.

Once they’ve firmed up, move them to a rack to cool completely. That’s when you get the crisp edges and soft, chewy centers, just like the ones our neighbor used to make.

Ingredient Highlights

Jarred maraschino cherries give these their sweet, nostalgic flavor. Save a tablespoon of juice from the jar before you drain them, since it adds a little color and extra cherry flavor to the dough.

Almond extract is strong, so a single teaspoon is plenty. Measure it instead of eyeballing it, because too much tastes bitter and almost medicinal.

Cream cheese should be the brick kind, not whipped or spreadable cream cheese from a tub. You only need 2 ounces, which is a quarter of a standard block.

Make It Your Way

A few easy ideas if you want to change things up:

• Roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before baking for a sparkly, slightly crunchy top.
• Press a few sliced almonds onto each dough ball before it goes in the oven.
• Use a mix of red and green maraschino cherries for Christmas.
• Drizzle the cooled cookies with melted white chocolate.
• Swap the almond extract for vanilla if someone at your table doesn’t love almond.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use fresh or frozen cherries instead of maraschino?

I’d stick with maraschino. Fresh and frozen cherries carry a lot more juice and don’t have that sweet, candy-like flavor that makes these taste so nostalgic. Chopped dried cherries are the closer swap if you want to experiment, but the cookies will taste different.

Why did my cookies spread flat?

The usual causes are a baking sheet that’s still warm from the last batch, a greased pan instead of parchment, or an oven running cooler than the dial says. Give your sheets time to cool between batches, and check your oven with a thermometer if it keeps happening.

How do I store them?

Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. If you stack them, put a sheet of parchment between the layers so the cherry bits don’t stick.

Can I freeze cherry almond sugar cookies?

Yes, and it’s a big help during holiday baking season. Freeze the cooled cookies in a single layer until firm, then move them to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw them on the counter, and they’re ready for a cookie tray or a spread of easy Christmas party food.

Final Thoughts

These cookies taste like being a kid again, and I love that they’re part of my own family’s holidays now. Those crisp edges, chewy middles, and little bits of cherry get me every time. For another easy holiday treat, try my easy pecan pie fudge.