Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Yield: 48 cookies
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies are soft, chewy, and absolutely delightful. They're a longtime Christmas tradition for our family, and also make a fun Valentine's Day treat!
Ingredients
- 48 undrained maraschino cherries (about one 10-oz. jar)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Morton kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Drain maraschino cherries, reserving the juice.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour and cocoa. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for about 30 seconds, or until softened. Add sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until well combined. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
- Shape dough into 1″ balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet about 2" apart. I like to use a small scoop to portion the dough into uniformly sized balls. Press down in the center of each ball with your thumb to create an indentation. Place a cherry in the center of each cookie’s indentation.
- In a small saucepan over medium to medium-low heat, combine the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of reserved cherry juice until mixture is completely smooth. Turn off heat and let saucepan sit on warm burner. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of this chocolate frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover the cherry fully. If the frosting is too thick, just add a little more of the reserved cherry juice to thin it out. Sometimes it also helps to warm the saucepan again - just turn the heat back to low.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
How to store:
from Mom's recipe box, adapted very slightly from Better Homes & Gardens magazine- On the counter: Place cookies in airtight containers, in single layers separated by wax paper or parchment paper. If serving within a couple days after baking, just set the container in a cool spot. We like to use our 3-season sunroom for storing some of our homemade Christmas treats, because it's always cold enough out there during the winter. My mom always stores some of her treats in their garage.
- To freeze: These cookies freeze very well. Add the cookies to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 88kcal Carbohydrates: 14g Protein: 1g Fat: 3g Saturated Fat: 2g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 10mg Sodium: 28mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 10g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.