Almond Cream Cheese Cookies

This cookies have a slight almond flavor and are fluffy. The cherries make it flavorful and sweeter. They are delicious and go fast, so keep that in mind!

Makes 4 ½ dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Maraschino cherries, halved

Directions:

1. Cream butter and cream cheese together. Beat in sugar, egg, and almond extract. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in creamed mixture. (Note: make sure to sift because it gives the cookies the prefered texture. Softened butter also makes the mixture easier to blend.)
2. Chill dough and form into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in the chopped nuts (if using walnuts) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press a half cherry into each cookie. (Note: Pressing your thumb into the cookie or even a pointer finger gives a nice groove for the cherry to go into and makes it a lot easier to put the cherry into the cookie.)
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.