| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 3 hr |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | about 4 1/2 dozen |
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice (from jar)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped toasted pecans
- 27 maraschino cherries without stems, halved (from two 10-ounce jars)
Instructions
- Make the Dough: Beat the brown sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the corn syrup, egg, cream, and lemon zest. Whisk together the flour, instant espresso, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; gradually add to the butter mixture, and beat at low speed until combined. Shape the dough into a flat disk; wrap with plastic wrap. Chill the dough until firm, at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Make the Filling: Stir together the brown sugar, maraschino cherry juice and butter until blended; stir in the pecans.
- Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter. Place the dough circles 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Place 1/2 teaspoon of the filling in the center of each dough circle. Shape into a cone by folding the edges of the dough to meet over the filling; pinch the edges together. Place 1 cherry half at the opening end of each bell for the clapper.
- Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool on the pans for 5 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 54 servings |
| Calories | 344 |
| Total Fat | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 73 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 63 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 13 mg |
| Sodium | 45 mg |
Reviews
These cookies are delicious! Prob best cookie I have ever made! They looked nothing like a bell ! Haha ( that’s on me) but still delicious . Mine looked more like a fortune cookie!
OK so after I saw all the comments here I have to say I was kind of scared and apprehensive making this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly to what it said. I had one disc of the dough in the refrigerator took it out cut off a third rolled it out which was very difficult because it was so hard. I had it in the refrigerator probably a good five hours after I left and came back. I didn’t have a problem with it over spreading the cookies taste good they’re not as pretty as this picture but close. It does make a lot so when I was on my fourth and fifth tray I said that’s it I’m too tired so I made inside out Mrs. B’s Christmas bells. I cut a disc of dough put some filling and a half a cherry put another disc of go on top of it and crimp the edges with a fork. No you’re not getting the prettiness of it the boy does it taste good.
This is the worst dough, I have ever worked with! I wish I had read the reviews before I made up the dough. The instant coffee crystals look awful in the dough. You have to work quickly with this or it becomes too soft and sticky. I even put my cookie sheet and rolling pin in the fridge and after the cookies were on the baking sheet I placed it in the freezer for 5 minutes. The taste is not worth the effort.
More of a question than a review. I’m going to try making these this year but the video doesn’t follow the recipe exactly… in the video you say 1 tsp of instant coffee but the recipe says 1 TBLS of instant espresso and you never mention lemon zest… I’m a little confused but hopeful I can make these and they turn out great!
A new Christmas favorite!! I love the flavors and unique shape. So much fun to make and enjoy!
Follow the recipe exactly awesome flavor My 3 year old grandson helped so some looked more like a log with a cherry at the end but enjoyed making and eating theses cookies. I’m making more this weekend
I have just spent a long, frustrating afternoon, trying to make these cookies turn out right. I am a very experienced baker, you could even say advanced. I had so much trouble with these. First, my dough didn’t look like the photo. It looks like gingerbread because of the dark karo, the brown sugar and the expresso powder in the dough. I followed the suggestions of previous reviewers and put each baking sheet of shaped cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before baking. Still, the cookies spread into shapeless messes. I’ll have to put a sign on them for anyone to know they are supposed to be bells! After a while, I just cut circles with a fluted 2 1/2″ round cutter, spread 1/2 tsp. of the filling over the top, and put a half cherry in the center. They’re not beautiful, but they look presentable. Both the dough and the filling are tasty, but this cookie, as the recipe is given — and I followed it exactly — is a failure. The stars are for flavor only.Do yourself a favor and make something else!
This is a question- how long do these cookies keep for? How many days ahead can they be made?
I was thrilled to find my mother’s “ Cherry Bell” recipe in Valerie’s Home Cooking Cook book. They have been a favorite of our family for 60 plus years! Always a winner. My adult son told me he would boycott Christmas if I didn’t make these. I agree, they are a bit time consuming , but well worth the effort. It makes a ton of cookies!
As for bakers having difficulty with the dough, I always make my dough the day before baking, packaging it into thirds wrapped in plastic wrap. As packages are used, return scraps to fridge, accumulating to each other. You’ll not want to waste a bit.
The changes I have made over the years is to make 1 1/2 times the filling. Using a mini food processor to finely chop the pecans, You want a fine even chop. I also cut the cherry pieces much smaller than halved. Personal preference
Give these a try, you won’ regret it!
This is the second year I made these cookies. Last year I had the show on my DVR and followed what Valerie was doing. This year I followed this recipe, with the exception of taking a hint from someone here and putting the finished cookies in the fridge for 5 minutes before baking.
Last year the cookies did lose shape while baking, but they tasted much much better than this year’s. They seemed softer and sweeter. Not sure why (hope it wasn’t because I put them in the fridge—the gain in appearance was definitely not worth the loss in flavor!), but if I try again, I’ll try to find and follow the show.
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