I cannot tell a lie: a very 1960s cookie.
Though the name evokes the legend involving our first president, and references to cherry chip cookies start showing up in the late 1950s, the earliest newspaper recipe I could find was 1963, in the Parade magazine insert in the Feb. 6, 1963 edition of the Reading Eagle.
 |
A family recipe provided by Jennifer Kiel of Washington, DC, from her mother-in-law’s collection, started in Kent, Ohio. |
Cherry Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter or margarine, soft
1 pkg. (3 oz.) cream cheese, soft
1 egg
1/2 cup finely chopped red candied cherries
3/4 cup rolled oats (quick or old fashioned) uncooked
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Beat butter and cream cheese together. Stir in egg, cherries and almond extract. Mix and sift sugar, flour, salt and baking powder. Add to butter mixture; beat well. Stir in oats; blend thoroughly. Chill.
Shape mixture into balls about 3/4″ in diameter. Place on greased cookie sheets; flatten with bottom of a glass dipped in flour. If desired, press a slice of candied cherry on top of each cookie.
Bake in a 375 degree oven 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.