Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

I know that Christmas was a couple days ago but what is awesome is that there are actually 12 days of Christmas! This means more cookies and for our readers, more cookie recipes.  What really happened was that I ran out of time to blog before Christmas! Whoops.

I made these cookies for 3 different families who we spent Christmas with. I have to say this was the best Christmas so far. There were babies (human and fur babies) all around!

Also, don't skip the frosting. It really makes the cookies. What's cool is that the frosting is baked along with the cookies. I followed the recipe exactly and doubled it because the more cookies the merrier.

Recipe from The Floating Kitchen.

For the Cookie Dough:

2 dozen+ maraschino cherries

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 heaping tsp. kosher 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

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Drain cherries in a strainer, making sure to reserve liquid in another bowl.

Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Cream the butter with the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Then add the egg and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, using a wooden spoon to mix together thoroughly.

Add all the frosting ingredients except cherry juice into a microwaveable mixing bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Then add cherry juice to thin as needed. I added two teaspoons total. This way, even more cherry flavor gets infused into the cookie.

Then form heaping tablespoons of dough balls from the cookie dough. I had my sister scoop the dough and then roll it between her hands to form a round ball. Then place cookie dough balls 1 inch apart on lined baking sheets. After this, use your thumb to make an impression in each ball (like thumbprint cookies). Then set a whole cherry into each indentation. Then spoon the frosting (about a heaping tsp) over the cherry, making sure to cover completely. I scooped the frosting over all the cookies on each tray, then went back to smooth the frosting evenly with my fingers.

Finally, bake for 10 minutes, let cool on tray for a couple minutes, then move onto cooling racks.

These are really rich and fudgey. The cookies are best eaten within 1-3 days of making them.