Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies

Already in 2014, a second "snowpocalypse" has hit the south! This time, it's the real deal and it seems that the only logical thing to do is to bake. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I've decided to try a recipe from a blog that my mom found on Pinterest. It's a simple shortbread cookie with dried cherries to give it that little hint of red for the most romantic day of the year.

Ingredients:
-3 sticks of butter, room temp (the original recipe called for 3/4 lb and I discovered that each stick is a 1/4 lb)
-1 cup sugar
-1 t vanilla extract
-1 t almond extract
-3 1/4 cup flour (the original recipe called for 3 1/2 cups, but I found that the dough was too floury and didn't hold together very well)
-1/4 t salt
-1 1/2 cup dried cherries, diced

Directions:
Mix together the butter and sugar for about three minutes until the mixture is a creamy texture. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix until the dough forms a ball. Add in the dried cherries.

*Optional: Remove the dough and form into a disk and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Roll the dough to 1/4 inch (I found that they were better a bit thicker) and cut into shapes. Unfortunately, I didn't have a heart-shaped cutter, so I made round cookies.

Bake at 350ºF for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown.