These Chocolate Cherry Cookies are a fabulous treat. They are a soft fudge cookie with a plump, sweet maraschino cherry in the center, drizzled with chocolate fudge sauce.
Are you making cookie trays for the holidays? Small Batch Almond Joy Cookies and Buttery Pecan Snowball Cookies are delicious and beautiful additions to your cookie trays.
Who could ask for more? Not only are these cookies a delectable treat, but they are so attractive. See what I mean! We love these cookies; they are perfect for the season. What could be prettier for the season than chocolate and cherry? If you like this recipe, you must try chocolate cherry cake, chocolate-covered cherries, cherry cheesecake, and cherry bars.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Butter: unsalted. If using salted butter, reduce the amount of added salt.
- Sugar: I like a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar
- Cocoa: use good quality unsweetened cocoa. My preferred brand is Ghirardelli, but there are other excellent brands.
- Vanilla extract: the pure stuff, or substitute 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
- Chocolate chips: semi-sweet or dark chocolate
How to make Chocolate Cherry Cookies
First, using a mixer, cream the butter and both sugars. Then add eggs one at a time and mix in. Combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Slowly blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Then, add the vanilla and cherry juice and mix just until combined. Cover and refrigerate for thirty minutes.
Smooth some butter on your hands and roll the dough into one-inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Using your thumb, press a slight indentation in the center of each cookie and place a maraschino cherry in the hole. Bake for ten minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk on low. When melted, add the cherry juice and drizzle over cooled cookies.
Preparation Tips and Storage
- Cover baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- Use your thumb to press a small indentation in the cookie before baking. You want the cherry to be very prominent, so just a slight impression to get the cherry to cradle on the top of the cookie.
- The fudge topping is semi-soft, so serve in a single layer.
- Store in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Freeze the dough in a practice commonly known as flash freezing. Roll the dough and place it on parchment-covered baking sheets. Ensure the dough balls aren’t touching so they don’t freeze together.
Place the whole sheet in the freezer until frozen, and then transfer the balls to a freezer bag. Store that bag in a sturdy freezer container. When you are ready to bake, place the cookies on a parchment-covered baking sheet and let them thaw until you can press a small indentation and add the cherry. Frozen cookies may require an additional one to two minutes of baking time.
If you must have a stackable cookie, replace the chocolate drizzle with melted chocolate. Melt 2/3 cup of chocolate morsels according to package instructions. Drizzle and then allow to cool until set.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil or parchment paper. They should not be touching, as they will freeze together. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once the cookies are frozen, double-wrap them in freezer bags and place them in a sturdy freezer container.
More Holiday Cookies
Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ⅔ cup cocoa
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cherry juice from maraschino cherry jar
- 30-36 jarred maraschino cherries
Chocolate Drizzle
- ¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon cherry juice from maraschino cherry jar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream butter and both sugars with a mixer. Add eggs one at a time and mix in.
- Combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Add ½ cup dry mixture to butter mixture at a time. Blending after each addition just until combined and scraping the side of the mixer bowl as needed. Add vanilla and 2 teaspoons of cherry juice and mix just until combined. Remove bowl from mixer and refrigerate for 30 minutes
- Butter hands and roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Using your thumb, press a small indentation in the center of each cookie and place a maraschino cherry in the hole.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk on low. When melted, add 1 tablespoon of cherry juice. Drizzle over cooled cookies.
Notes
- Cover baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- Use your thumb to press a small indentation in the cookie before baking. You want the cherry to be very prominent, so just a slight impression to get the cherry to cradle on the top of the cookie.
- The fudge topping is semi-soft, so serve in a single layer.
- Store in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
Nutrition
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CharlotteTheRat
These cookies are so good!!! I added some lemon zest and my teacher loved them!!!
Beth Pierce
I am so glad that you and your teacher enjoyed the cookies!
Anum Zia
Are the cookies supposed to flatten while baking when the indentation is supposed to be small? Mine are still quite ball like and they’re half way baked
Beth Pierce
You can carefully add a little more of an indentation while they are warm, and they will flatten a little more.
Ariane
Good recipe! Thanks.
Beth Pierce
You are most welcome!
Lory
Made these for BFF’s wedding. She said they were EXACTLY like her grandma would make for her when she was little. Followed recipe exactly, including the chocolate drizzle. Flash froze, stored in single layer, and they transported beautifully 1,100 miles away! Thank you for bringing back a childhood memory for my sweet friend.
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine. That is so sweet of you! So glad that everything worked out including the transportation.
Terry Martin
These cookies are the bomb. I made them for a Christmas party last year and they were gone within minutes. I don’t see any mention on storing these? I made them ahead of time so I will need to store them for a few days. Thank you for a great recipe. They always come out great!!
Beth Pierce
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 6 days in the refrigerator.
Amber
Hi, I was wondering if it would hurt to use whole milk in place of the condensed.
Beth Pierce
You need the condensed milk.
Victoria
I make these cookies every Christmas season since 2018 and I visit this page each year for the recipe. They are my favorite cookies ever. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us!
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine!! So glad that you like them!!
Cheer B Kosak
Do you think I could use a bit of Kirsch instead of rhe cherry juice?
Beth Pierce
I think you could but I have never baked with Kirsch. Maybe one of the readers will chime in.
Catherine Stockmal
Made these cookies yesterday – I doubled the recipe. After reading previous comment about possible soggy-ness, I decided to use 1 tsp of vanilla and 2 tsp of Cherry Extract, which I had on hand (as opposed to 2 tsp of vanilla and 4 tsp of cherry juice), thinking that would solve the problem. It did. Cookies are very, very tasty and were not soggy… but still, they came out ‘flat’. I tampered a little. These are best cooked at 375 degrees for about 12-13 min.
I WILL make these again but, next time when doubling this recipe, I would make these further changes: decrease 4 eggs down to 3, and increase the baking soda & baking powder to about 3/4 tsp each.
I had chocolate candy melts, and that’s what I used to drizzle over top. I didn’t bother adding cherry juice to the drizzle because, honestly, the cookie tasted great as is.
Sierra
Ok i usually don’t write reviews on stuff. But i have to for these cookies. I have made them 3 times. They come out perfect each time. I love them.
Beth Pierce
That is so sweet Sierra! So glad that you like the cookies. The chocolate cherry combination is delicious!!
Bonnie Zach
I made these cookies, and they got really soggy…. I think if I make them again, I’ll use the candied cherries instead. I also made more of a chocolate frosting drizzle that set up nicely. I also had dough left over, so I put a chocolate star on them. They were very good that way too.,
Sarah S
I love love love this recipe!
Question though, halfway through I forgot to poke in the cherries. I quickly got them in the dough and finished baking and the look okay. Will it make a difference?
Mom brain over here with a day of toddler /freezer disasters
Beth Pierce
No I do not think it will make any difference!
Emily Dollins
I’m planning on baking these cookies and I have a question about cocoa powder. Will it make a difference if I use dark cocoa powder? I don’t want to buy two different cocoas for a little amount. Thank you so much!
Beth Pierce
I was not sure what dark cocoa pwder was but I found this article. Unfortunately I do not think that will work.
Marti
I love these cookies taste so much like a cherry cordial!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Mari! So glad that you like them!
Beth Pierce
So sorry that it has taken me so long to respond to this comment. It is a super busy time of the year. I love it but I am getting worn out. If and when you make the cookies. Run a test run. Bake one to two cookies to check for optimum baking time. If the cookies spread too thin than refrigerate the dough for an hour and run another test run. Happy holidays to you my friend.
Mickey
I made these today and my cookies flattened out. They did not look like the picture. They tasted good but wonder why they flattened out.
Beth Pierce
Sometimes cookie dough needs some refrigeration. The butter can get too soft and dough can be overworked. Usually when I am making cookies I cook one to two cookies on a test run. If the dough spreads too much then I refrigerate for at least an hour and then run another test run.