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It’s November already so you know what that means … hello holidays!  We’re kicking off the season here at Saving Room for Dessert with a simple and delicious cookie perfect for gifting, sharing or just enjoying.  In just a few weeks invitations will arrive for events like office luncheons, church pot-lucks, family gatherings and holiday parties.  If you’re like me, I’m often overwhelmed with all the extra cooking and baking needed to attend these events.  But no worries, you can whip up these delicious Cherry Almond Tea Cake Cookies in minutes, and they are Cookie-licious! The Perfect Dessert For Your Holiday Events
To me, the most important part of baking is using good quality ingredients like these from Bob’s Red Mill.  If you haven’t tried their perfect-every-time flours and other products, holiday baking will be a good time to start.  And to put icing on the cake (so to speak) Bob’s Red Mill is happy to provide all our readers with a COUPON!
We love baking with Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour that’s freshly milled from Organic hard red wheat. Both the bran and the germ have been removed leaving the endosperm that is made into white flour. It is not enriched with any additives.  This is the same high protein flour used by professional bakers and produces high, well-textured loaves of bread equally as well as it produces light, airy baked goods.  This kitchen staple is incredibly versatile and perfect for all of your baking needs.
Another one of my favorite products is the Organic Almond Meal/Flour.  Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal is ground from whole, blanched sweet almonds.  Almonds are notoriously healthy nuts providing a good amount of manganese and vitamin E , as well as a healthy serving of monounsaturated fats in each 1/4 cup serving.  Not only do almonds have a healthy boost of protein, they are also very low in carbohydrates and inherently gluten free.  This is the only almond flour I use when baking macarons.
Did you know they also make a 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour?  This is great for anybody that requires a gluten-free diet.  It’s perfectly formulated for baked goods with terrific taste and texture – no additional specialty ingredients or custom recipes required.  This flour combines finely ground brown rice flour, sweet white rice flour, whole grain sorghum flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour with a touch of xanthan gum—just enough xanthan gum to create chewy cookies and springy muffins.  The protein in the sorghum flour helps give baked goods an almost wheat-like texture and aids in browning, for those times you need a perfectly golden brown chocolate chip cookie. Use this blend for cookies, cakes, and brownies.  This recipe for Cherry Almond Tea Cake Cookies would adapt perfectly to a gluten free version using their 1-to-1 flour.
This is a melt-in-your-mouth tender cookie full of almond flavor and a fruity bite from the sour cherries.  The cookie dough is not very sweet but the magic happens when you roll the hot from the oven cookie in powdered sugar.  The sugar forms a wonderful coating that melts to the outside of the cookie.  Once cooled, the cookies are rolled again then stored in an airtight container until ready to serve.
To ensure a full-on almond experience, these Cherry Almond Tea Cake Cookies are made with almond flour, almond extract and almond paste.  If you haven’t tried baking with almond paste before you’re in for a treat and it’s readily available in the baking section of your local grocery store.  Just freeze the box of paste then grate on a large box grater just before using.
Are you ready for the holidays? Â Ready or not, here they come! Â I haven’t purchased any gifts or even planned my Thanksgiving menu, but I’m already in the mood for holiday baking. Â My family won’t let me make anything new for Thanksgiving anyway – guess the once a year casseroles, turkey and cornbread dressing are non-negotiable.
Thanks for PINNING!
Cherry Almond Tea Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar, plus 2 cups for rolling cookies
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2¼ cups sifted Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour measure before sifting
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup frozen almond paste about 3.5 ounces almond paste, frozen, then grated using the large-hole side of a box grater
- 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Organic Almond Meal/Flour
- 2/3 cup finely chopped dried cherries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Combine the butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until blended and creamy.
- Add the almond extract and salt, and beat until incorporated.
- Sift the all-purpose flour into the butter mixture. Add the almond flour, grated almond paste and dried cherries. Mix just until blended.
- Roll into 1-inch balls and place 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom.
- While the cookies are baking, pour 2 cups powdered sugar into a shallow bowl or pie plate.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and while hot, carefully roll each in powdered sugar. Set the cookies aside on a parchment lined wire rack to cool. Once cool, roll again in powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container in a cool location.
My obsession with almond flavor is well documented here on SRFD, and for good reason.
Here are a few more recipes using almond paste you might like to try:
- Cranberry Almond Cake
- Chocolate-Chip Almond Streusel Topped Muffins
- Almond Cranberry Scones
- Peach & Almond Shortcake
This is pretty early for me to be posting holiday cookies but somebody has to go first!  Haha.  I hope you’ll give these easy cookies a try.  They keep well and even box up easily as a gift for that someone special.   Thanks so much for stopping by!
Tricia
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
jill says
Oh, just ran into this recipe on pinterest. Well, tea cakes are my very favorite, so even though it is after the holidays I will be trying out this appealing version…though I will have to make them gluten free. Also, lol, I have a whole set of those dishes, bought in the 70’s, so cute to see the bowl pictured. Still love them.
Tricia Buice says
Hi Jill! Glad you found this recipe. Tea cakes are some of my favorite cookies. Melt in your mouth delicious! I love my old Christmas dishes too 🙂 Enjoy the cookies and also try the original version found here – https://www.savingdessert.com/russian-tea-cakes-cookie-recipe/
Betty says
What a pretty cookie- perfect for an elegant holiday treat! I love the cherry and almond combination. 🙂
sippitysup says
I agree Bob’s Red Mill products are the best. GREG
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Greg! Have a wonderful week 🙂
monique says
Me again..sent you an email:)Did you get it?
Tricia Buice says
I did and thank you very much! I resent the reply in case you didn’t get it 🙂
[email protected] is How I Cook says
I love anything rolled in powdered sugar! I also can’t wait to try the gluten free 1 to 1 mix for my friends that are gluten free. Sounds like good stuff! Thanks Tricia!
Tricia Buice says
Haha Abbe – I love it too and I always make such a mess! Thank you 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
These fun cookies bring back memories of the huge cookie trays my mom used to make at Christmas. This type of cookie was always in the selection and they’d be some of the first to disappear! Love the combination of cherry and almond and I’m so happy you reminded me that Christmas is on the way, I need to get busy!
Tricia Buice says
I love food memories too – and they usually center around my mother or grandmother 🙂 My mom would make big plates of all different types of cookies too – such a fun family time. Have a great weekend Chris!
2 sisters recipes says
Wonderful gift idea!! and these are definitely irresistible almond flavor! and love the addition of sour cherries in the recipe! YUM!
Tricia Buice says
Thank you Anna & Liz! Happy weekend 🙂
Robyn @ Simply Fresh Dinners says
Oh my goodness, my little nephews are going to flip for these. I will pass the recipe on to their mom because she does all the Christmas baking. They are big cherry lovers and these look so delicious, Tricia. Can you believe that Christmas is only 6 weeks away? Yikes! lo
Tricia Buice says
Thank you so much for sharing Robyn! And no I cannot believe I have to pull out all those decorations in just a few weeks – ahhhhh!
Dom says
what an interesting cookie, with the almond and sour cherry I think I would adore these! And don’t they look like little snowballs! So interesting too because we saw a documentary the other day about how the US flour industry saved the UK bread business in the Victorian era, it was fascinating. Great post!
Tricia Buice says
Sounds like an interesting subject for a documentary. I love those things! Thank you for stopping by Dom!
Cheri says
Hi Tricia, never seen this kind of cookie before, looks and sounds delicious, my family will love these. Can’t believe it’s November already.
Tricia Buice says
Thank you Cheri – seems like yesterday is was October haha. Have a lovely weekend!
Susan says
I love holiday baking but will likely wait until December, as usual 🙂 What a great recipe and one I am saving. Love Bob’s Red Mill products and thank you for the coupon link!
Tricia Buice says
I usually start baking so late but this year I wanted to start a little earlier. So many recipes, so little time! Have a great weekend Susan 🙂
Gerlinde @Sunnycovechef says
These cookies look delicious, similar to some German cookies. I like that the almond flour is made from blanched almonds, that tastes so much better.
Tricia Buice says
I just love German baking – and can’t wait to see what you make this holiday. Thanks Gerlinde!
sue | theviewfromgreatisland says
I’m not AT ALL ready for the holidays, but just reading this post is getting me in the spirit…I love these little bite sized cookies, and I agree with Jennifer, cherry and almond is the best combo!!
Tricia Buice says
Thanks so much Sue! Have a great weekend.
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
You’re getting me in the mood for Christmas baking!! Love these cookies. So pretty and cherry and almond is always a winning flavour combination 🙂
Tricia Buice says
Yeah! Let the bake-a-rama begin 🙂 Thanks Jennifer – have a wonderful weekend.
Monique says
I have to make these! I love the flavors Tricia..and I love Bob’s red mill products!
Tricia Buice says
Yeah! I hope you love these cookies as much as we do. So much almond flavor going on – and we love Bob’s products too!
Monica says
I LOVE the holidays and I love seeing your holiday baking so this is exciting! And I also love Bob’s; I was just making almond cookies yesterday in which I used a ton of their almond meal! : ) Can’t wait to see everything you bake up this season.
PS – hope you and the grandkids had a great Halloween!
Tricia Buice says
I love seeing your beautiful creations too Monica! Can’t wait to see what you bake up this year. My grandson really had a nice time trick-or-treating. He was very thankful to told everybody Happy Halloween and thanked them for the candy. He is such a sweetie. Hope your son enjoyed his fun day too! Thank you so much for asking! Happy weekend 🙂
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I keep almond flour in my freezer and this sounds like a good way of using some of it.
Tricia Buice says
Thanks for stopping by Karen. Have a wonderful weekend!
[email protected]'s Recipes says
They look so very festive and gorgeous!
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Angie – we’re getting ready!
Sara says
These look so delicious, definitely adding them to my holiday baking list this year!
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Sara!