Chocolate Cherry Cookies

I keep a folder in my internet browser favorites for recipes that I see that I want to try. I look at Taste Spotting quite frequently and I have found a number of ideas there. I came across this recipe on Taste Spotting and I bookmarked I right away because I knew I wanted to try it. My husband loves chocolate cherry cordials, and this seemed very similar. I make another chocolate cherry cookie where you shape the cookie dough around maraschino cherries. This seemed a lot simpler. I’ve had this bookmarked since early December, so it was high time to make them!

The blogger who made these used dark cocoa powder. Since I needed to buy cocoa powder, I did pick up the dark cocoa powder. It gives the cookie a nice dark color, and the dark cocoa powder reminded me a lot of Oreos. I think that they have a bit of a richer flavor because of the dark cocoa powder. It will be interesting to see the difference that this cocoa powder makes in other recipes.

These cookies take a bit of work, but that aren’t too bad. The dough was very simple, adding the cherry half was easy. I had the most trouble with the chocolate topping. You really need to use up all of the topping right away, or it gets too cold. I waited in between batches and by the time I got to the last batch the topping was too cold to use. I had to make a bit more topping to finish up the last cookies. Not too much of a problem but did messy up a couple more dishes.

These taste so good. They are definitely worth any extra effort that I had to take. My husband thinks that they taste a lot like cherry cordials. I thought that they might be very sweet, with the maraschino cherries and the chocolate topping, but the dark chocolate flavor of the cookie balance the other flavors and the sweetness very well.

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
10-oz jar maraschino cherries
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder & salt together, set aside. In a mixer beat the butter until

softened. Add the sugar & cream until like & fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture & beat until well mixed.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls & place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheets. Use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie.

Drain the cherries reserving the juice. Remove the stems & cut the cherries in half. Place 1/2 of a cherry into the indentation in each cookie.

Put the chocolate chips and condensed milk in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of the cherry juice. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of chocolate topping over the top of each

cherry covering it completely. If the chocolate is too thick add a little more cherry juice.

Bake for 10 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from A Good Appetite