Late August cookies - Fishing, Ice Cream & Back to School

Last lazy days of summer

These cookies were made using Sweet Sugarbelle's sugar cookie recipe and royal icing recipe. ALWAYS my go-to recipe for cookies and RI - I use real vanilla extract in the cookie dough and add artificial vanilla to the RI. To me, both of these are no-fail recipes, always with excellent results.

Very Cherry Pound Cake

Very Cherry Pound Cake

2 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup butter

1 package of cream cheese (8 ounces)

1 1/2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp (or more) of almond extract

1 jar of maraschino cherries, drained and halved (I use more because we like lots and lots of cherries)

1/4 cup flour for dredging cherries

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour tube pan.

Mix flour, baking powder & salt - set aside.

Cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time then add extract. Beat in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Dredge cherries in 1/4 cup of flour, then fold into batter and spread into pan. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 10 min. and turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.

I make a glaze with some of the cherry juice, almond extract and powdered sugar and drizzle on the cake while still slightly warm.