Cookie of the Week: Vintage Cherry Winks {Recipe}

I tried a new recipe this week called Cherry Winks.  It is a recipe that my best friend’s grandmother used to make.  We were discussing ideas for new cookies I could try and she remembered her grandmother used to make these tasty little cookies called Cherry Winks.  I thought they sounded fun and yummy and decided to give the recipe a try. 

These are definitely a vintage cookie recipe.  Apparently, they were a prize winner at some point years ago.  {more after the break}

They are definitely not as sweet as today’s cookies and have a more delicate, bread-like texture rather than the dense chewy texture of most of today’s drop cookies.  But they were really delicious and my family loved them.  I loved the bite of cherry and the pink hue the cherries impart to the dough.

My friend Stephanie, who blogs over at A Daily Scoop about her amazing family, has been my friend since I was a very small girl.  Making one of her grandmother’s recipes is almost like making one of my own grandmother’s recipes.

Below is the recipe.  I switched up the ingredients slightly, substituting some butter for part of the shortening and replacing crushed cornflakes with crushed Honey Bunches of Oats. 

VINTAGE CHERRY WINKS

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherry halves
• 2 cups Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Cream together butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy. 
4. Add eggs, milk and vanilla and mix until well combined.
5. Add flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Mix well.
6. Stir in dates, pecans, and cherries.
7. Roll balls of dough (I used a 1 ounce cookie scoop) in crushed cereal and place on prepared baking trays.  Press down slightly and add a cherry half to the center of each cookie.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Slightly under baking will yield a chewier cookie.
9. Cool on pans for 5 minutes.

Do you make your grandmother’s cookie recipes?