Christmas Cherry Bells

Yes, I know October is a little early for Christmas cookies. But these Christmas Cherry Bells freeze super well, and Mom and I thought we’d get a head start on the holiday baking tonight. So I took some pictures of the process, and I’ll share the recipe here.

Christmas Cherry Bells are delicious cookies, although not cheap, thanks to the chopped pecans. So they truly are a “Christmas time only” food at our house.

You don’t need any special cookie cutters for this recipe. A round biscuit cutter is what I used to make the circles, but you could even use a drinking glass.

The recipe comes from a cookbook titled “Farm Journal’s Best-Ever Cookies”, which was printed in 1980. Mom’s copy is stained with the grease of Christmases past, but the binding is still hanging together well, and the recipes are still as practical and tasty as ever. (Although I did remove the part about sifting the flour from the recipe, no need for that anymore!)

The Recipe

• 3 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 c. butter
• 1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 c. dark corn syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 tblsp. light cream (or half-and-half)
• 1 1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
• 1/3 c. packed brown sugar
• 3 tblsp. maraschino cherry juice
• 1 tblsp. butter, melted
• Maraschino cherries (1 jar)

Makes about 6 dozen cherry bells.

Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices, set aside.

Cream together 1 c. butter and 1 1/4 brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add corn syrup, egg, and light cream, beat well. (I do this part with an electric mixer.)

Gradually stir in flour mixture, mix well. Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, mix together pecans, 1/3 c. brown sugar, cherry juice and 1 tblsp. butter in bowl. (Note, we think this makes plenty of filling. So if you’re a little short on the pecans, you can skimp a bit here.)

Divide dough into thirds. Roll out each third on a floured surface, using a rolling pin, until the dough is about 1/8″ thick. (You can keep the extra dough in the refrigerator until you need it.) Cut with a floured 2 1/2″ cookie cutter.

Place rounds, about 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Place about 1/2 tsp pecan filling in the center of each round.

To shape the bells, fold the sides of the cookie toward the center, overlapping slightly. Fold edges so the top is narrower than the bottom. Press together to seal seams (except there’ll be a little filling peeking out at the bottom.)

Cut the maraschino cherries in half, press one half in the bottom of the bell for a clapper.

(All this assembly takes a while, so I suggest you fill all your cookie sheets before you start baking.)

Bake at 325 degrees for 12–15 minutes. Remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks (or use an old tablecloth like we do, because who has enough wire racks to cool 6 dozen or more cookies?)

Now the cookies are going in the freezer, and Penny Letters is written for the week! I’m glad to be done early, since I’m going away for a few days for a women’s Bible seminar in Virginia. I hope to write a blog post about the conference next week!