Better Homes And Gardens Buried Cherry Cookies

December 14, 2013

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Today I bring you the BEST CHRISTMAS COOKIE EVER!!!

Sorry to virtually scream that at you. But I'm super serious about these cookies. They are no joke. They top every other Christmas cookie out there.

When I was a kid, my mom and I would devote a whole weekend in early December to making Christmas cookies. We would take over the kitchen and churn out six to eight different kinds of cookies over the course of two days. By Sunday night I would inevitably be sick from eating so much sugar! But I loved it and I looked forward to that weekend with my mom every year.

Out of all the cookies we baked for the Holidays, these Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies were always my favorite. And all these years later, they are still at the very top of my list.

The bottom layer is kind of like a cross between a cookie and a brownie. It's deeply chocolatey, soft and a bit chewy. The frosting on top is thick and sweet (I guess I have a thing for cookies with a puddle of chocolate on top). But the cherry in the middle is definitely my favorite part. Biting into one of these cookies and discovering that juicy cherry hiding out between all that chocolate is akin to opening presents on Christmas morning.

My mom got this recipe from a friend of hers in the early 80's, so I'm not sure of the original origin of these cookies. Update: Karen told me these also go by the name Buried Cherry Cookies and the recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens. Mystery solved!

I definitely recommend doubling this recipe. A single batch makes less than two dozen cookies (trust me, you will want more than that!) and if you double the recipe you avoid the pesky problem of having leftover sweetened condensed milk.

Cheers,

Liz

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough
About 2 dozen maraschino cherries
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
For the Chocolate Frosting
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. reserved cherry juice

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Drain the cherries, reserving some of the liquid. Remove and discard the stems. Set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined and the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. With your mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until everything is just incorporated.
Scoop out rounded tablespoons of cookie dough and roll into balls. Remember you will be putting a whole cherry in the middle of each dough ball, so you want them to be large enough to accommodate that. Place the dough balls about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheets. Press a single cherry about halfway down into each ball. Be carefully not to go all the way through the cookie dough.
Once all your cookies are set up, make the frosting. In a heavy-bottom saucepan over low-medium heat combine the chocolate morsels, condensed milk, salt and 1 tsp. of the reserved cherry juice. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and everything is well combined. If your frosting seems a bit thick, add another teaspoon of cherry juice. Remove from the heat.
Spoon the frosting over each cookie, completely covering the cherry. Once all the cookies are frosted, transfer them in your pre-heated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on their baking sheets for 5-10 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are cooled, they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 5-7 days.

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https://www.floatingkitchen.net/chocolate-covered-cherry-cookies/

posted by floatingkitchen on December 14, 2013
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