Psst- this post is in a series where I share my family’s tradition of baking seven different cookies every Christmastime. To save time and money, each cookie in this series is based on this basic vanilla cookie dough recipe.

Talking with my friends about the food that we were nostalgic for when we were young inspired this Christmas recipe. I don’t really maraschino cherries, but the idea of making a slightly-less sweet (but no less delicious) cookie version of a cherry blossom was the closest I could get to making my friends the real thing. (In fact, it was so much fun that I might end up making real cherry blossoms next time!) For those of you who don’t have a sweet tooth, not to fear- the nuttiness takes a little bit of the edge off.

White Chocolate, Hazelnut and Cherry Coins (yields 10 dozen)

1/3 c. finely crushed hazelnuts

1/3 c. finely chopped white chocolate

1/3 c. whole maraschino cherries

one batch of this vanilla cookie dough (include the baking powder this time!)

Prepare the vanilla cookie dough by following the instructions here. In a separate bowl, mix together nuts and white chocolate. Incorporate into cookie dough until fully mixed. Divide  dough into four logs, about 5 inches each. Set two aside. With the remaining two, make a trench down the middle of the log using your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon. Carefully line with whole maraschino cherries, taking care not to leave too many gaps, but not cramming them so close together that they’ll squish. Cover each cherry log with the other plain cookie dough log and carefully mold the two together, taking care to make sure the dough fully conceals the cherries. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate on a flat surface (like a cookie sheet) until very firm, approximately two hours.

Once dough is set, remove from fridge and unwrap plastic wrap. (Reshape the log if it’s looking a little sad.) Using a clean, sharp knife, slice your log into diagonal pieces, approximately 1/8-inch thick. If you go slowly and carefully enough, each of your cookies should have a slice of cherry in the middle! Place on a cookie sheet approximately 1/2-inch apart. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F on a parchment-lined cookie sheet until firm, approximately 12-14 minutes.

I’m counting down Christmas by sharing some of my favourite holiday cookie recipes with you! I’ll be posting a different Christmas cookie recipe every day for the next seven days so you can follow along in my family’s baking tradition, and have more cookies to add to your Christmas baking arsenal! For more inspiration, you can check out more of my baking here. For even more recipe inspiration check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.