Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cherry juice
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped or crushed maraschino cherry
• 1 cup granulated or decorator sugar (as needed)
• 12 ounces Hershey chocolate kisses (1 per cookie) or 12 ounces Hershey's Hugs chocolates (1 per cookie)

Instructions

1. Beat butter, add sugar and salt. Beat in cherry liquid and almond extract. Beat in flour. Fold in cherries.

2. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes (you don't have to, but dough is easier to work with when cold).

3. Roll dough into balls, coat in sugar and place on cookie sheet. These cookies will flatten on their own, but I typically put a thumb print in the center to flatten some.

4. Bake at 325 degrees for 14 minutes. Let cool on pan for 1-2 minutes.

5. Add Hershey Kiss/Hug to center of the cookies. (Hugs melt especially fast, you may want to let the cookies cool a little longer before adding Hugs, but cookies should still be warm so chocolate can melt into the cookie).

6. Transfer to wire rack to cool.