If you are a fan of chocolate and cherries (and who isn’t?) you’ve got to try these Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies. Fudgy, brownie-like cookies with a sweet cherry peeking through a drizzle of cherry infused chocolate frosting.
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I had such a thing for maraschino cherries when I was a kid. I think it was the Shirley Temple that got me hooked. That beverage was all the rage with the hip 8-year old crowd in the early 70’s and I can remember stuffing about 5 or 6 maraschinos in my glass at a time. Weird kid? Maybe. But my love for maraschino cherries has not dwindled with age.
These seriously chocolaty cookies feel nostalgic to me. Probably due to my my fond maraschino cherry memories but also because all thumbprint cookies hold a special place in my heart.
They are on my baking list every year for Valentine’s Day and Christmas.
And, they are so incredibly delicious.
Shall we?
Grab a large mixing bowl and your electric hand mixer. Cream together the softened butter and both the brown and white sugars. Add an egg and the vanilla extract and beat until creamy and well combined.
In a separate smaller bowl, combine the dry ingredients. All-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture, a little at a time, beating until combined with each addition.
Roll the dough into small 1″ balls. You should end up with 30 of them – or close to it.
Place the little cookie dough balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I highly recommend baking your cookies on parchment paper but if you don’t have any on hand, place the cookies directly on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Use a finger to make a small indentation in the center of each ball. Press lightly and only about half way through the center of the ball.
Place a maraschino cherry in each indentation. It’s a good idea to blot them lightly with a paper towel before placing them. A little juice is good but you don’t want them dripping wet.
I can remember eating maraschino cherries right from the jar when I was a little and to this day feel that they are the best part of a Shirley Temple. One is never too old for a Shirley Temple with 5 maraschino cherries, right?
And, it’s time for the oven. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 or 11 minutes maximum.
On to the super simple, 3 ingredient frosting. Place 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk. You’ll have about half a can of this lusciousness left over. For an indulgent java experience try Pioneer Woman’s Vietnamese Iced Coffee. I can’t think of a better way to use up leftover sweetened condensed milk.
Add the sweetened condensed milk to the saucepan and cook and stir until the chocolate is completely melted.
Remove the pan from the heat and add 2 tablespoons of the reserved maraschino cherry juice. This amount works perfectly for me but feel free to add additional juice to reach the desired drizzling or piping consistency you are after.
For a pretty, uniform look, transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a small circle tip.
Pipe some of the frosting over each cooled cookie.
If you don’t want to bother with the whole pastry bag thing, feel free to just grab a fork and use the tines to drizzle the frosting over the top of the cookies. I promise I won’t tell anyone and I also promise they will taste just as good.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! I hope you get to indulge in some sort of decadence whether it be cookies or romance – or both!
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 30 maraschino cherries, blotted dry
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons reserved maraschino cherry juice,, plus additional as needed
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugars until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and then add to creamed mixture a little at a time, beating until well combined. Shape into 24 balls, about 1" round, and place on ungreased or parchment paper lined baking sheets. Slightly indent each ball with one of your fingers and then push one cherry into each ball.
- Bake at 350° for 10 to 11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a small, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; add 2 tablespoons reserved cherry juice and stir until smooth. Add additional cherry juice if necessary to reach desired consistency. Drizzle frosting over cooled cookies or alternately, transfer the frosting to a pastry bag and pipe over the cookies for a more uniform look.
- Store cookies in an airtight container.
- Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This recipe is killer! I am a skilled baker but cookies are always my downfall. For some reason the little buggers just never cooperate with me! This recipe is now the only recipe I ever want to bake because of the quality and taste!
Like another commenter I too did not have enough cherries for the whole batch so I rolled the extra balls in sugar and pressed them down. They were also AMAZING. Next time I think I will try chopping cherries up and adding them to the batter. Who knows, I may even get a little crazy and roll them in powdered sugar next time! The base is very much like a fudgy brownie. WOOF.
All in all, incredibly versatile concept with a FOOL-PROOF base recipe. Thank you!
My daughter is getting married on Sunday. How many days will they keep before wedding? Should they be stored in tuperware container?
You really want them to be fresh and good quality if you’re serving them at a wedding so I would recommend making the no more than two days in advance, storing them unfrosted in an airtight container (Tupperware is fine). I recommend adding the cherries and frosting on the day you serve them for the best result.
Do these cookies freeze well even with the frosting?
I love these cookies I’ve been making these cookies for my family since 1997 they are one of my family’s favorites only the fudge frosting we bake on the top not add after the cookies are baked. Glad to see people still love these cookie after all these years.
I just made these cookies. Followed recipe exactly. Except I put cherries on some and Hershey kisses on a few. ( only because I didn’t have a full jar of cherries) but these cookies came out amazing. I’m a chocolate freak anyway and these are a keeper. They are rich in flavor and soft and chewy.
Chocolate on chocolate… I like the way you think, Jennifer! So glad you love the cookies 🙂
Have you tried adding nuts to the batter?
I haven’t tried it. Let me know if you do!
I increased the amount to 4 dozen cookies. Please clarify how much flour and vanilla should be used. Both show 2-1(?). I used 2-1/2 cups flour and they seemed kind of dry and very chocolatey. Less than 1 C cocoa? What is the correct amount of flour? If you double the 2 dozen recipe, it would be 3 cups flour. Please advise.
Hi Judy. For 4 dozen cookies you are just doubling the recipe so you’ll need 3 cups flour, 3 teaspoons vanilla, and 1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa. My recipe card calculator was a little hung up but I believe it should be working just fine now.
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Hi Valerie,
I wanted to get back to you and let you know that these cookies froze beautifully!!! I put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours first, to allow the icing to completely set up (didn’t want them to smudge) and then froze them in a single layer. Took them out and added them to my platter of Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve and they absolutely stole the show! Not only were they beautiful to look at, they were delicious, soft, and so fudgy, everyone loved them!
I did add more cherry juice to both the cookie batter and the icing (only because I wanted a really strong cherry taste) but I know the recipe would have been wonderful either way. And now knowing that they are freezable (a must for me at Christmastime) just puts these cookies completely over the top!
These will be my go-to cookies from now on, any time of the year. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe, Valerie!!
Thank you for sharing your insight on freezing. That answered my question before I even asked it.
We made these in our culinary club at our Retirement home for Christmas…OMG they were so good and they stayed soft for a couple weeks. We are making again tomorrow. Yum
I just made these and all I can say is “These are the bomb!!!” Wow! I doubled my recipe and cut some of my cherries in half to make sure I had enough. I agree with an earlier comment that it makes plenty of icing, I could have gotten away with not doubling that but I have left overs for dunking something!