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Chocolate covered cherry cookies feature a soft chewy cookie topped with a cherry and covered in rich chocolate! Perfect for holiday gift giving!
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies Recipe: The perfect addition to your holiday treat line-up!
Chocolate and cherries have always been a favorite duo of ingredients. Chocolate covered cherries (the candy)? Love it! This Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake? Incredible! Chocolate cherry ice cream? The best!
This easy holiday cookies recipe is inspired by the iconic duo – chocolate + cherry! Just look at these beauties, don’t they look amazing?
If you like chocolate covered cherries like I do, you are going to adore these cookies. And while they are not difficult to make, they do take a little bit of extra effort and time. Let me assure you, however, that these cookies are worth every little bit of extra time it might take!
Let’s head to the kitchen and bake some cookies!
❤️ Ashley
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookie Ingredients:
To make chocolate covered cherry cookies, let’s start with the soft chocolate cookie. You will need:
- all-purpose flour
- cocoa powder (use dutch processed cocoa powder if you have it available)
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- butter
- sugar
- egg
- vanilla
For the chocolate cherry topping, you will need:
- milk chocolate chips
- sweetened condensed milk
- maraschino cherries (reserve 2 tablespoons juice) – drained well
How to make Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
The process for making these cookies is broken down into two steps. First you will make the soft chocolate cookie, then you’ll top them with a cherry and a decadent chocolate topping.
Make the cookie:
Outlined in the recipe card below are the detailed instructions for how to make the cookie . Here are some tips to make the best chocolate cookies:
- Use dutch processed cocoa powder if you have it
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper
- If the dough feels a bit too sticky, refrigerate it for 30 minutes before forming the cookies into balls.
Chocolate cherry topping:
There are a few steps that you can take to ensure that the chocolate cherry topping turns out perfectly:
- Drain the cherries well. I like to use paper towels to absorb excess liquid. Excess moisture can affect the dough.
- Milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips can be used.
As I was making these for the first time, I tried two different methods for adding the chocolate frosting. First I tried adding the chocolate frosting before the cookies baked. They didn’t turn out quite like i had expected, so I tried adding it after they came out of the oven, and the result was perfect!
These cookies resemble brownies which I just love! Whether you are making these for a Christmas or holiday party, or for any time of the year, they will be a hit! If you decide to make these Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies for the holidays, or any time of year, please take a photo and share with me on social media. I love to hear from you!
Happy Baking!
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Ingredients
COOKIE INGREDIENTS
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder Dutch Processed cocoa powder if you have it
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
CHOCOLATE/CHERRY TOPPING INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 24 ounces Maraschino cherries without stems, reserve 2 tablespoons juice then drain the remaining juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- With your mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Slowly add in dry mixture and mix until everything is well combined.
- Use paper towels to pat the cherries, removing any excess liquid.
- If dough feels too sticky – refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling them into balls.
- Use 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and use your hands to roll them into balls. Arrange on baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use your thumb to gently create an indentation in the center of the cookie.
- Place a Maraschino cherry in the center of each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are just set.
- As the cookies are baking, create the chocolate topping. In a large bowl combine 1 cup milk chocolate chips with 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk and 2 tablespoons cherry juice. Microwave at 50% power for about 1 minute, then stir. Then microwave 20 seconds at a time until the chocolate is melted and well combined, stirring between each interval.
- When the cookies are done baking, carefully transfer them to cooling racks to cool for a few minutes.
- Place the chocolate mixture in a piping bag, or a Ziplock bag. Snip the corner and pipe the chocolate mixture over the center of each cookie. Allow the chocolate to firm up which will take about 15-20 minutes.
- You’ll get 2.5-3 dozen cookies from one batch.
More Christmas Desserts!
Here are additional festive dessert recipes to try this holiday season!
- Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies
- Cakey Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
