Cherry Cordial Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, divided (do not use vegetable oil spread)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (9 ounces) golden yellow cake mix
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
20 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
4 squares (1 ounce each) semi-sweet chocolate for baking
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. In Small Batter Bowl, microwave 1 stick of the butter on HIGH 45 seconds or until melted. Slice remaining butter into 1/2-inch pieces; add to melted butter, tossing to coat. Let butter stand 2-3 minutes or until softened. Combine flour and cake mix in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well. Using Stainless Steel Whisk, whisk butter until smooth and free of lumps; add almond extract. Pour butter, all at once, into dry ingredients. Using Bamboo Spoon, mix until dry ingredients are incorporated and dough is smooth. (If dough is too stiff to stir, knead until smooth by hand on Cutting Board.) Fill Cookie Press, fitted with #5 disk, with dough. Press dough onto flat Baking Stone, 1 inch apart. Slice cherries in half; press one half onto center of each cookie. Bake 15-17 minutes or until very light golden brown. Cool 3 minutes on baking stone; remove to Stackable Cooling Rack. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Microwave chocolate in Small Micro-Cooker®, uncovered, on HIGH 1 minute or until melted and smooth; drizzle over cookies. Sprinkle almonds over cookies. Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

Nutrients per serving: (1 cookie): Calories 100, Total Fat 6 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 10 mg, Carbohydrate 10 g, Protein 1 g, Sodium 75 mg, Fiber less than 1 g

Cook’s Tips: If you have only one baking stone, press the second batch of cookies onto Parchment Paper, cut to the size of the baking stone. As you remove one batch of cookies from the oven, unbaked cookies can be quickly placed onto the baking stone and into the oven. This will save time as well as clean-up.

Pampered Chef