Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

These Chocolate Cherry Cookies are rich, fudgy, and filled with the sweet flavor of maraschino cherries topped with a drizzle of dark chocolate. They taste just like a chocolate-covered cherry and bring that cozy, classic holiday flavor everyone loves. You'll get easy, step-by-step directions for making these beautiful thumbprint-style goodies that look fancy but are simple to bake. Pin this recipe now so you'll have one of the best Christmas cookies ready for your holiday baking list.

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Why these are the best chocolate covered cherry cookies

These Christmas cookies are easy to make. Measure and knead the dough, form balls, add cherries, and bake. It's a great recipe for kids to help mom or dad with because it's so easy.

The ingredients for this easy recipe are very common. You probably have most of the simple ingredients already in your pantry, and the remaining couple are available in most grocery stores or on Amazon.

These chocolate covered cherry cookies taste amazing! The cookies are fudgy and rich, and the juicy cherries are a burst of sweetness! Add a drizzle of cherry chocolate ganache on top, and you have a decadent treat worthy of any gathering or holiday party.

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These cookies are small. We are making these cookies with a 1-tablespoon scoop, so they are just a couple inches across. That means you can have a couple, guilt-free!

These cherry chocolate cookies are beautiful! They will be the prettiest cookies on the Christmas cookie tray, and they are lovely as a Valentine's Day gift.

This recipe is freezer-friendly. You can easily freeze the cookies before or after they've been baked.

What you'll need to make chocolate cherry cookies

Equipment

• Baking sheet - If you have a half-sheet pan, that will be ideal, but any baking sheet or cookie sheet will be fine.
• Parchment paper - I always line my baking sheets with parchment. It helps the cookies to not stick and makes cleanup easier.
• Electric mixer - You can make cookie dough with a whisk, but it is much harder and takes much longer. A stand mixer is also fine, but I generally just use my hand mixer.
• Whisk - You will need this to mix the dry ingredients. If you don't have a whisk, use a fork.
• Scoop set - I always use a scoop to portion out my cookies, so that I can be sure they are all the same size. You can do it with two small spoons. Just be careful that there aren't any bigger or smaller than the rest.
• Wire rack - A wire rack is essential to ensure the cookies don't get overbaked on the baking sheet. As soon as possible, remove them to the wire rack to get airflow around them and stop the baking process. Overbaked cookies are hard, not soft and chewy.

Ingredients

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

• Unsalted butter - Unsalted butter works best but salted is also fine. It should be soft but not melted. The best way to do this is to leave it on the counter to warm up to room temperature.
• White sugar - Only white granulated sugar was tested in this recipe. You may be able to use alternate sweeteners, but I can't say how they will work.
• Vanilla bean paste - I prefer vanilla bean paste to vanilla extract because the paste has a much stronger and richer vanilla flavor. Vanilla extract is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol and then removing the beans. Vanilla bean paste is made by mixing crushed vanilla beans into concentrated vanilla extract. You can use them interchangeably in equal amounts.
• All purpose flour - You can use a cup-for-cup gluten-free baking mix in this recipe.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder - This makes the cookies have a lovely chocolate flavor.
• Baking powder - If you leave this out, your cookies will be completely flat.
• Cornstarch - This helps make the cookies more cake-like than fudgy brownie-like. If you omit, the cookies will be denser and fudgier.
• Maraschino cherries - Make sure the stems are removed. You will use cherries and juice separately, but both are important in the recipe.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips - These are for drizzling over the baked cookies to give them that "chocolate covered cherry" flavor.

How to make chocolate covered cherry cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Begin the dough by beating together the butter, sugar, and vanilla bean paste in a medium or large bowl on high speed. The butter mixture should become smooth and creamy.
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3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and cornstarch with a whisk. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on a low speed until a dough forms. The mixture will be tough and crumbly.
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4. Knead the cookie dough by hand to finish forming the dough. (Kneading means you will squish and squeeze and fold the dough until it is smooth and pliable. See photo below.)
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5. Use your small cookie scoop to scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Repeat this for all the dough.
6. Place balls of dough onto your prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
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7. Add a thumbprint in the center of each cookie with a teaspoon-sized measuring spoon or your thumb. See below for the best size for each indentation.
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8. Add a single cherry to the top of the cookie. You may need to reform the dough around the cherry to reduce cracking during baking. Repeat for all cookies.
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9. Bake for about 10 minutes.
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10. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
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11. Once fully cooled, melt the chocolate chips with 4-5 teaspoons of the juice from the cherries in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the mixture for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring well between bursts, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the tops of the cookies before serving.
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Variations and substitutions

Being that this is a simple recipe, there aren't a lot of variations.

You can use gluten-free baking mix in place of all-purpose flour to make your cookies gluten-free.

You can use vegan butter to make your cookies dairy-free.

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You can add a few drops of almond extract to the ganache or a half teaspoon of it to the cookie dough. Cherries and almonds are a perfect flavor pairing.

You can add a handful of slivered almonds or chopped pecans to the chocolate cookie dough.

You could make chocolate orange cookies by replacing the maraschino cherry with a spoonful of orange marmalade and orange juice for the cherry juice in the ganache.

You could make chocolate covered strawberry cookies by replacing the maraschino cherry with a small strawberry (or maybe just a half of a small strawberry?), and then use heavy cream or the liquid from frozen strawberries in the ganache.

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Storage

Store chocolate-covered cherry cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4-5 days. They will get softer over time. There is no need to store chocolate covered cherry cookies in the refrigerator.

You can freeze these cookies. Place cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet in the freezer until frozen solid and not sticky. Then stack in a freezer-safe airtight container, placing parchment between the layers. Freeze for up to 2 months.

To serve frozen cookies, thaw on the counter and serve at room temperature.

Try these delicious cookie recipes:

• Cherry Pie Cookies
• Nutella Linzer Cookies
• Easy Shortbread Cookies
• Monster Cookies - chocolate chip, M&M, and peanut butter cookies rolled into one giant cookie
• Apple Butter Thumbprint Cookies
• Cookie Index - All our cookie recipes in one spot.

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