Almond Cherry Cookies

Ingredients

• 13 cup almonds whole
• 13 cup sugar
• 23 cup cherries
• dried coarsely chopped
• 23 cup pastry flour
• whole wheat or white flour
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 large egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 tablespoons chocolate chips or finely chopped dark and/or white chocolate
• for decoration

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grind almonds and sugar in a food processor to desired texture: a coarser texture will give you small almond pieces in the cookie; a fine grind will give great almond flavor without any crunch from the almonds.
3. (Be careful to not overgrind: you will get almond paste.)
4. Put the mixture to a large bowl.
5. Stir in cherries and flour until combine.
6. Stir in oil, egg white and vanilla and almond extracts, mix with a wooden spoon until well incorporated.
7. Shape the dough into walnut-size balls with your hands or a small cookie scoop (about 1 rounded tablespoon each) and place 1 1/2 inches apart on a large, ungreased baking sheet.
8. Make about 15 cookies.
9. Bake until the bottoms are golden (the top will stay white), 10 to 12 minutes.
10. Let cool on sheets for a few minutes.
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Melt chocolate and drizzle or pipe onto each cooled cookie, if needed.
13. Let stand until the chocolate sets.
14. Store in an air-tight container or freeze for up to 3 months.