I have been making my Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs for over 40 years. I say “my” Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs because I’ve never seen or heard of them anywhere else, thus I assume they are a culinary concoction that I came up with. This may not be accurate, but I intend to keep patronizing myself, even if only with an illusion. Originally, I had to make the dough, but thanks to Pillsbury, that time-consuming step is no longer necessary.
I call this recipe for Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs a dessert, but truth be told, I make and eat them at other times. In fact, I may well eat them more often at other times than as a dessert. They’re quite tasty (read: addicting) and don’t take much time or many ingredients to prepare. Guests who I have prepared them for always ask, when invited back, if I will be serving them. Since this is a prepare and serve right away dish, I tend to avoid presenting it to guests – often to their dismay.
Ingredients you’ll need for Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs
1 can of Pillsbury refrigerated Crescent Rolls
*1 jar of Maraschino Cherries
½ cup of powdered sugar
*Some Maraschino Cherries are better than others. The larger, plumper, juicier variety work best in this recipe.
Open up the can of crescent rolls and separate one or two of the perforated triangles from the roll. Lay them out flat and cut them into smaller segments, as illustrated in one of the attached photographs. A pizza cutter is great for this, but a dull knife also works well.
Put a tiny bit of cooking oil onto your fingers, to prevent the dough from sticking to you, and form the newly cut segments of crescent rolls around the cherries: one cherry per segment. Pinch the edges to seal the cherry (and its juices) inside the roll. Don’t worry too much about the shapes, different shapes add to the serving presentation later. Place these onto a plate that has a very light coating of cooking oil on it, again to prevent sticking. Prepare all of the Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs before cooking.
Put a couple of inches of cooking oil into a saucepan, cover with a lid and bring to a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough, drop 2-4 of the prepared Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs into the oil. Gently turn the puffs as they cook – which they will do very quickly. Remove when they are golden brown to dark brown. Some people prefer them cooked a bit more than others.
Remove the cooked Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs from the cooking oil and place on a paper towel or wire rack to drain and cool. Serve warm with some powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Experience has taught me that light eaters will devour 4-6 of these tasty treats. Heavy eaters can easily put away a dozen, and will often eat more.
If you use an entire can of crescent dinner rolls, you can make about 45 Maraschino Cherry Dessert Puffs. I frequently use a half a can and then use the balance of the flaky rolls with my next breakfast or dinner.
