Cherry Snowballs

CHERRY SNOWBALLS (Original recipe courtesy of TasteOfHome.com)
A juicy maraschino cherry is the pleasant surprise tucked inside these unique cookies.

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 tsp salt
36 maraschino cherries, well drained

COATING:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup milk
2 cups flaked coconut, finely chopped

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, water and vanilla. Combine flour, oats and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Shape a tablespoonful of dough around each cherry, forming a ball. Place 2 in. apart on un-greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Combine sugar and enough milk to achieve smooth dipping consistency. Dip cookies, then roll in coconut.

The kids really enjoyed making these cookies - mainly because there were a couple of cherries left over for them to snack on! Kelsey did the rolling in the confectioner's sugar mixture, and Shakeer finished off the cookie by giving it a good roll in coconut.

These cookies look absolutely terrific on the cookie platter against all of the other colors.