Cherry-Chocolate Studded Snickerdoodles

I asked my husband to pick cookies for this week. The only stipulation was that I had to be able to make them before work. I wasn’t working until noon so that left me plenty of time to bake! He send me two different recipes, one that I made right away and the other looked really interesting too. I was missing one ingredient for that one so I made these: Cherry-Chocolate Studded Snickerdoodles.

The picture for this cookie on the website looked suspiciously like a chocolate chip cookies, which I guess isn’t too odd since that is my husband’s favorite. I’m sometimes skeptical about so many things being labeled as snickerdoodles, but this one is more accurate as it contains cream of tartar. I think that is what makes snickerdoodles distinct. Add in some dried cherries and some chocolate chips and you’re set. The original recipe called for white and chocolate swirled chips, but I didn’t have those so I just used half white chocolate chips and half semi-sweet chips. 

This recipe makes over 4 dozen cookies, which is quite a few! On one batch I didn’t add the extra chips to the top of the cookie and they didn’t look as good, so take the extra minute and add those to the top before baking. With the cinnamon sugar, it’s a little hard to tell when these are done, but I always lean towards a cookie being less done than overdone. They looked ok after 12 minutes and once they had cooled I could tell that was the right timing. These take the familiar flavor of snickerdoodles and amp it up with chocolate and cherries. Very tasty!

Cherry-Chocolate Studded Snickerdoodles

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1-1/4 cups white and semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped

Cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixer bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and cherries. 

Shape dough into 1-1/2 inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets.  Top cookies with additional white and semi-sweet chocolate chips. 

Bake about 12 minutes, just until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Nestle