Chocolate Cherry Cookies #

Ingredients #

Makes ~3 dozen cookies

Cookies #

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 16 oz jar maraschino cherries

Topping #

• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 4 teaspoons maraschino cherry juice (can substitute brandy or rum)

Equipment Needed #

• Large mixing bowl
• Medium mixing bowl
• Mixer
• Sifter
• Small bowls to drain & de-stem cherries
• Sauce pan
• Kitchen scale (for chocolate chips)

Instructions #

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well blended.
• Sift dry ingredients together and gradually add to the cream mixture. Beat until well blended.
• Drain the cherries and save the juice.
• Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Using a size 70 cookie scoop to size the balls is helpful here.
• Press down center of dough with thumb and place a cherry in the thumb indent
• Bake for 10 minutes at 350°F.
• Leave on baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before placing on cooling racks.
• In a saucepan, combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk and heat on low, stirring until melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of cherry juice.
• After the cookies have baked, spoon 1 teaspoon of the mixture over each cherry, spreading it to cover the cherry.