Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights

Finally posting this recipe because I don't want to forget it. This was the new cookie I tried this last Christmas. Several people told me this was their favorite cookie over the holidays.

Again, I was inspired by Taste and Tell. Here is the original link to this recipe.

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights
adapted from Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

makes 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 10-oz. jar maraschino cherries*
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Melt the butter and mix in the sugar. When the mixture has cooled off a bit, add the egg and mix. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla and cocoa, stirring after each addition. Add the flour and mix well. The dough will be stiff and a bit crumbly.

Drain the cherries and reserve the juice.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 per sheet. Press down in the center of each ball to make an indentation. Place one cherry in each indentation.

In a double boiler, combine the chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk. Heat on low, stirring, until the chocolate chips have melted. Start adding in some of the reserved cherry juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the sauce is thick and will glob off a spoon. If it won’t glob off, keep adding juice until it is the right consistency. Spoon a small bit of the sauce over the center of each cookie – just enough to cover the cherry. It shouldn’t drip down the sides.**

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

*you probably won’t use the whole jar of cherries
**I had quite a bit of the chocolate frosting left over. Good thing it makes a great snack on top of graham crackers!!