Love cherry cordials? You need to make these Chocolate Cherry Cookies. They are perfect for Valentine’s Day and Christmas, but we enjoy them all year long. Every bite is irresistible!
Maraschino cherries have always been a favorite of mine. Cherry garcia is one of my favorite ice cream flavors, and my maraschino cherry bars have been a favorite since high school. So I am always on the lookout for a tasty baked good that calls for maraschino cherries.
I found the recipe for these chocolate covered cherry cookies in a cookbook I checked out of the library several years ago. They do take a little more time than traditional drop cookies, but man are they good!
They are nice and soft and chocolaty, and biting into a cookie with cherry in the center is a tasty surprise.
Top ’em off with creamy cherry chocolate frosting and they are downright scrumptious!
Everyone in my family loved them. Except the self proclaimed cherry hater. But we won’t count him. 😉
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY COOKIES
- PREP- Drain maraschino cherries really well, squeezing out excess juice. Reserve the juice for the frosting.
- DOUGH – Melt chocolate chips and set aside. (I melt mine in a glass bowl in the microwave at half power, but you can use a saucepan over low heat.) Cream butter and brown sugar in a large bowl; beat in egg and vanilla. Add melted chocolate and beat till well combined. Stir in dry ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- FORM COOKIES – Flatten balls of cookie dough in your palm and place a cherry in the middle. Wrap the dough around the cherry, seal, and roll till smooth. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- BAKE – Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake cookies for 9-10 minutes, or until tops are crackled. Let sit on pans for about 3 minutes, then remove to wire racks. Cool completely.
- FROSTING – While cookies are cooling, prepare frosting. Melt chocolate chips and butter in a glass bowl. Add powdered sugar, salt, and enough reserved cherry juice to make a thin frosting. Spread over the tops of each cookie.
Watch the chocolate cherry cookie recipe video for full instructions:
PRO TIPS:
- Make sure your cherries are drained really well, or it is hard to seal the cookie dough around them because juice squeezes out.
- You can make the cookie dough a few days ahead of time and store it wrapped in the refrigerator. Just let it sit at room temperature for an hour or so until it is soft enough to roll.
- If you prefer, you can add extra cherry juice to the frosting and make a thin icing. You can dip the cookies in the icing instead of frosting them.
HOW TO STORE FROSTED MARASCHINO CHERRY COOKIES
You can store these cookies at room temperature for about 5 days. I like to layer them in an airtight container with waxed paper between the layers.
If you store them in the refrigerator, they will last a couple more days. You need to let them come to room temperature before serving, because the frosting will get hard when chilled.
Want to freeze them? I recommend freezing them before they are frosted, then frosting them when you are ready to serve them.
Don’t they look yummy?
LOVE CHERRIES? TRY THESE:
- Cherry Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Cherry Muffins
- Cherry Cheesecake Brownies
- Blueberry Cherry Muffins
MUST TRY COOKIE RECIPES:
CHERRY CHOCOLATE COOKIES
Frosted Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Cookies
Chocolate cookies with a juicy maraschino cherry inside, slathered with cherry chocolate frosting.
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 16 ounce jar maraschino cherries (reserve juice)
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- dash of salt
- 3 Tbsp maraschino cherry juice (more or less)
Instructions
- Melt chocolate chips in a small glass bowl in the microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar till fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and melted chocolate. Mix well. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt till well combined.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
- Wrap about 1 teaspoon of dough around each cherry. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets.
- Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes. Cool completely on cooling racks.
- For frosting, melt chips and butter in the microwave at 50% power, stirring often. Add powdered sugar, salt, and enough cherry juice to reach a spreadable consistency. Beat till smooth. Spread on the top of the cookies.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 103Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 48mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 14gProtein: 1g
These look so good and chewy and best part, I think I have all the ingredients!! I’ll be trying these later, thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Yummy these look so good I have a similar recipe on my blog you can check them out here.
thedailysmash101.blogspot.com/2011/01/chocolate-cherry-cookies.html
Mmmmm looks so good! Only Jared made me commit to not make any more treats for a while after we devoured 3 pans of the yummy orange zucchini bread we tried from your blog last night 🙂