Candied cherries give a sweet chewiness to these buttery soft cookies! Flavors of coconut, vanilla, and almond make a holly jolly cookie recipe no one can resist - least of all Santa himself! Make the dough ahead and slice and bake it fresh before serving, or make ahead and freeze it. Either way, they’re melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
Add the softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Beat the softened butter until fluffy - about 30 seconds.
Add the sugar, milk, vanilla, and almond and beat until fluffy - about 1 minute.
Stop and scrape down sides and bottom of the mixing bowl.
With the mixer on low add the flour all at once and mix until just combined.
Stir in the chopped nuts and mix, then the chopped cherries.
Mix until just combined and the dough starts to come together. It will appear very crumbly.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently with your hands until it comes together well.
Divide into 2 portions and form each into an 8 inch log.
Sprinkle the coconut on a piece of wax paper, and roll each log in it until it is completely covered.
Wrap each log in wax paper and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. You can also freeze at this point.
When you're ready to bake remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, and slice into ½ inch thick slices. If it's been frozen you'll need to let it thaw for a bit until it's soft enough to cut without crumbling.
Place 1 inch a part on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° degrees for 12-14 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are just beginning to brown.
Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.