White Chocolate Cherry Nut Cookies

Since the rest of my cookie tray had sweets with dark and milk chocolate, I figured I should have something with white chocolate to complete the tray.  I've had white chocolate macadamia cookies before, so I thought I'd make those.  I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate, but the cherries in this give it a little bit of tartness to balance the sweet white chocolate.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups dried Bing cherries

1.5 cups white chocolate chips

1.5 cups nuts of your choice, chopped coarsely (macadamia, pecan, walnut, etc)

Directions

1.  Using an electric beater, beat the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar at med speed until fluffy (~5 min).

2.  Add the vanilla extract and eggs.  Beat on low for another minute until it is mixed in.

3.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Beat on low until a dough forms.

4.  Mix in the cherries, white chocolate chips, and macadamia nuts using a spoon.

5.  Spoon the dough (~1 tbsp balls) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or an ungreased, unlined glass baking tray), leaving about 1 inch between the balls.

6.  Bake at 350 F for 15-18 min, until the edges turn a light golden color.

7.  Let cool for 5 mins on the baking tray.  Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.