Cherry And White Chocolate Almond Twist Food

CHERRY-ALMOND COOKIES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Combine butter, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until thoroughly mixed.
• Combine flour and baking soda in a separate bowl; gradually add to the butter mixture, mixing until incorporated. Stir in white chocolate chips, cherries, and almonds. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

CHERRY ALMOND CHOCOLATE CLUSTERS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, toss together the almonds and the cherries. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.
• Melt half the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over slightly simmering water, over the lowest possible heat, stirring frequently. Make sure the water is not touching the top pan. Remove the double boiler from the heat and stir in the rest of the chocolate. Remove the top pan with the chocolate in it, gently wipe the bottom of it and set it aside for a moment. Replace the simmering water in the bottom pan with warm tap water. Put the pan of melted chocolate on top of the warm water. This will keep the chocolate at the right temperature while you make the clusters.
• Stir the fruit-nut mixture into the chocolate. Spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized clusters of the chocolate mixture onto the baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Put them in the refrigerator to set for 15 minutes. Store and serve at room temperature.

CHERRY ALMOND WHITE CHOCOLATE SANDWICHES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, with racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl until combined. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until smooth and incorporated. Add the vanilla, egg and egg yolk and mix until incorporated. Then add the flour mixture, sour cherries and white chocolate. Mix until incorporated.
• Scoop a level tablespoon of dough, roll in a ball and, using fingertips, pull apart into two equal pieces. (You'll have 36 to make 18 sandwiches.) Place the formed dough balls on one of the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are slightly golden and the middles are still soft but not wet, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 20 to 30 minutes on the baking sheets.
• For the filling: While the cookies are cooling, beat the almond butter, confectioners' sugar, butter and salt with a hand-held mixer until whipped and light, about 2 minutes. Chill the filling until ready to assemble the cookies.
• To assemble: Spread 1 tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom side of a cookie. Place another cookie, bottom-side down, onto the filling. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

WHITE CHOCOLATE BAKEWELL (CHERRY AND ALMOND) FUDGE

Steps:

• Put the white chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan and warm over a very low heat, stirring continuously until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat.
• Stir in the almond extract and then the glace cherries.
• Line a loaf pan with cling film (saran wrap) and pour the warm fudge mixture inches.
• Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, until completely set (ideally overnight).
• Then turn out of the pan and serve (this is a soft fudge so is best served slightly chilled).
• NB If desired, you can quarter extra glace cherries and scatter them over the top of the fudge before chilling to make it look a little more colourful!

CHERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE ALMOND TWIST

Steps:

• Drain ½ cup cherries thoroughly reserve 2 to 4 teaspoons cherry juice for Cherry Glaze.Measure carefully, placing ½ cup cherries and remaining ingredients except White Chocolate Almond Toppi9n, 2 tablespoons margarine, ¼ cup cherries and Cherry Glaze in bread matching pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer.Select Dough/Manual cycle. Do not use delay cycles.Remove dough from pan, using lightly floured hands. Cover and let rest 10 minutes on lightly floured surface. Prepare White Chocolate Almond Topping.Grease large cookie sheet. Roll dough into 15 X 10-inch rectangle. Spread 2 tablespoons margarine over dough. Sprinkle with topping and ¼ cup cherries press into dough. Roll up dough, beginning at 15-inch side. Place on cookie sheet.Cut roll lengthwise in half. Place halves filling sides up and side by side, on cookie sheet twist together gently and loosely. Pinch ends to fasten. Cover and let rise in warm place about 45 minutes or until double.Heat oven to 350°. Back 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from sheet to wire rack. Cool. Drizzle with Cherry Glaze.For White Chocolate Almond Topping:Mix all ingredients.For Cherry Glaze:Mix ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle.1 slice: 200 calories (55 calories from fat) 6g fat (2g saturated) 0mg cholesterol 190mg sodium 34g carbohydrate (1g dietary fiber) 4g protein.SUCCESS TIP Be sure to use a sharp knife when cutting the roll lengthwise in half. This will help prevent the filling from pulling on the knife during cutting.ShapingCut roll lengthwise in half. Place halves, filling side up and side by side, on cookie sheet twist together gently and loosely.Did You KnowMaraschino cherries (pronounced either mar-uh-skee-nog or mar-uh-shee-noh) can be made from any variety of cherry, but the Royal Ann is most often used. The cherries are pitted and then marinated in flavored sugary syrup. Almond flavoring is sometimes added to red cherries, and mint flavoring is sometimes added to green cherries. The cherries are then dyed with government-approved red or green dye, so they are safe to eat.From "Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook, The Goodness of Homemade Bread the Easy Way." Text Copyright 1999 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.