12 Days of Cookies - Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

I let Hubby chose the last cookie for the 12 Days of Cookies. I gave him a list of 5 that came out of my Google Reader. He chose these chocolate covered cherry cookies. Like I have been doing recently, I made a 1/2 batch of these cookies. Hubby and I have started putting on holiday weight and it's not even the holidays yet! This blog could be the death of me... I did only got 14 cookies out of my half batch. I used my cookie scoop to portion the dough, so apparently I made mine bigger than the original poster did.

These cookies are very good. I love the two textures of chocolate on them. And the surprise of a cherry in the middle is very good. I will definitely make these again sometime. Since they're not overly holiday-ey they could be made any time of the year.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies - from A Good Appetite
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla
24 maraschino cherries
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips - I used a mix of semisweet & bittersweet
1/4 c sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder & salt together, set aside.

In a mixer beat the butter until softened. Add the sugar & cream until like & fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture & beat until well mixed.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls & place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheets. Use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie.

Drain the cherries reserving the juice. Remove the stems & cut the cherries in half. Place 1/2 of a cherry into the indentation in each cookie.

Put the chocolate chips & condensed milk in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of the cherry juice. Spoon 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chocolate over the top of each cherry covering it completely. If the chocolate is too thick add a little more cherry juice.

Bake for 10 minutes & cool on a rack.

These cookies will freeze well. Individually freeze them on a cookie sheet. Once frozen place them in a box with wax paper between layers then back into the freezer.

My 12 Days of Cookies:Day 1: Lumberjacks
Day 2: Peppermint Sandies
Day 3: The great Sugar Cookie Debate
Day 4: Fudge
Day 5: Cranberry Orange Cookies
Day 6: Chocolate Chip Snowballs
Day 7: Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
Day 8: Snickerdoodles
Day 9: Candy Cane & Mint Kiss Cookies
Day 10: Chocolate Peppermint Meringue Cookies
Day 11: Butter Ball Cookies