During the Christmas season, there’s not much more iconic than chocolate covered cherries. It’s the only time I ever see them sold in the stores, and while they’re not the most delicious thing, they’re definitely a tradition. And they make a great Christmas bingo prize! After having some for the first time this holiday season last week, I thought it would be fun to make a cookie that reminded me of the delicious chocolate cherry flavor. The best part about these little delights is that you can make them at home, and they’re super easy to put together! They’re great for Christmas treat plates (with these fun Christmas treat gift tags!), Valentine’s Day, or anytime you’re just craving a little chocolate.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No chill dough – unlike something like cut out sugar cookies, these chocolate cherry cookies don’t need to be chilled before baking, so they can be made from scratch in under 20 minutes!Chocolate cherry flavor – I already mentioned it before but the combination of the chocolate cookie with a cherry on top is just pure yumminess! Easy to make – if you’ve ever made homemade cookies, you can make these! It’s just adding things to a mixer and letting the dough come together.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Sugar – you can either use regular granulated sugar or use larger granule sugar like a decorator’s sugar. Mini chocolate chips – if you don’t have mini chocolate chips, you can use regular size, but I prefer the mini ones in this recipe just so they’re not overpowering the rest of the cookie. I also prefer to use semi-sweet but again, you can really use whatever you have on hand. Chocolate almond bark – if you don’t have almond bark, you can also use chocolate melting wafers, chocolate chips, or baking chocolate melted down. Chocolate almond bark just melts and hardens quickly. Butter – you’ll want to use unsalted butter that’s nice and soft for this recipe. If you only have salted butter, cut the 1/2 tsp of salt down in the recipe to 1/4 tsp. Cherry pie filling – you’ll only need half a can. Use leftovers in these delicious cherry cheesecake cookies!
Instructions
Are you ready for some chocolate goodness? Let’s talk about how easy these are to make! First you will need to preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Next, in a large bowl, combine butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, then beat in eggs one at a time and add the vanilla. In a small bowl, combine unbleached flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Dough will be thick and crumbly. You may have to use your hands to get it to come together. Last, fold in semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. Do this with a spoon or spatula rather than using the mixer to add the chocolate chips. Folding in the chocolate chips keeps them whole. If you use a mixer, you’ll end up with just little tiny bits of chocolate mixed in instead. Using a 1 tablespoon (or just a small one) cookie scoop, create cookie balls and place them 1” apart on the baking sheet. Now use the end of a large baking spoon or spatula to create a hole in the middle of each cookie. Don’t press all the way through the ball, just about halfway so that you can fill it. Your goal is to make a little bowl for the cherry and cherry filling to sit in while they bake. Put some pie filling in each hole with a spoon then top the filling with one cherry. It’s okay if the filling gets a little bit on top of the cookie, but it’s best to keep it in the hole as much as possible. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Cookies will look set and will continue baking on the baking sheet (do not over bake). Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. While the cookies are cooling, heat chocolate almond bark in a microwave safe bowl in 20-30 second increments until melted completely (stirring between each). Or melt in a double boiler on the stove. Place melted chocolate in a plastic bag and cut a small tip off the corner of the bag. Use the bag to drizzle chocolate over cherry thumbprint cookies. You could also use a piping bag if you have them to spare but a plastic bag works just fine. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet or move them to a cooling sheet to cool completely. Once cooled, serve on their own or with a little chocolate ice cream because everything is better with ice cream right?
Expert Tips
Sprinkle cookies with white granulated sugar or decorator’s sugar immediately after taking them out of the oven to create a glassy/sparkly effect. Add about 1/8 teaspoon of coconut oil to your almond bark to make it smooth for drizzling so it doesn’t harden as quickly if you want to make it a little further in advance or if you’re worried about being interrupted and the chocolate melting before you have time to drizzle. You can transfer the almond bark to a zippered bag and cut the tip off the end for easy, mess-free drizzling. Use my viral TikTok trick to fill your bag! Store cookies in an airtight container for up to five days before either throwing away or freezing.
More Easy Cookies
If you liked this recipe for chocolate cherry cookies, you’ll love these other delicious cookie recipes!
Grinch cookies – these cute cookies are inspired by the original Grinch movie and will have your heart growing three times bigger when you try them! Chocolate chip pudding cookies – these cookies are a chocolate lover’s dream with four different types of chocolate all in one yummy treat! Rolo cookies – chocolate chip cookies with a Rolo baked inside, these are just delicious. Chocolate chip M&M cookies – classic cookies get a candy twist with this fun recipe!Snickers cookies – peanut butter cookies with a sweet treat baked inside, good whether you like Snickers or not!
