With aromatic cherries and rich, velvety chocolate, these Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies are delicious and addicting! The cherry flavor is subtle, not overpowering, and will leave you hungry for more!
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Ingredients
1 ½cupsAll-purpose Flour
½teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonsalt
½cupunsweetened cocoa powder
½cupunsalted butterroom temperature
1cupwhite granulated sugar
1egg
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1jarMaraschino Cherriesstems removed and blotted dry
Chocolate Cherry Frosting
1cupsemi-sweet chocolate chips
½cupsweetened condensed milk
2teaspoonsmaraschino cherry juice
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium low speed to combine the butter andsugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing until fully incorporated.
Slowly add the flour mixture, along with the cocoa powder mixing on low just untilcombined.
Use a large cookie scoop to form balls, rolling in between palms to smooth.
Place evenly apart on the prepared cookie sheet anduse a ½ teaspoon measuringspoon (or your thumb) to press an indent in the center of each cookie dough ball. Place a cherry in the center of each cookie.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until cooked through. Cool completely.
Cherry Chocolate Frosting
In asmall bowl, combine the semi-sweet chocolate chips, condensed milk and cherryjuice. Stir to combine.
Cook in the microwave in 15 second intervals until the chocolate is melted and smooth.Be sure to stir in between each round. Do not over cook.
Transferthe frosting into a piping bag and drizzle over the cooled cookies. Serve.
Notes
The cookie dough should be about playdough consistency. It should be able to roll between palms without sticking but you also shouldn’t have to force it to stay together.
If the dough needs adjusting (this happens to even the best bakers!) you can add more flour if it’s too sticky or a teaspoon of milk if it’s too thick.
10 minutes was the PERFECT bake time for me. With chocolate cookies, it can be difficult to tell when they are done. I like to look at the edges of the cookie and carefully check the bottoms. The cookies are soft, so they won’t firm up until they start to cool.
Make sure your cherries are blotted dry completely. If you skip this step you will end up with a wet spot in the center of the cookie.
Because of the cherry, the cookies should be enjoyed within 3 days of being made. Store in the fridge or at room temperature.
You can make and freeze the dough balls and thaw them before baking if you want to make this ahead of time.
If your icing is too thick, you can add cherry juice to it.
If you make the frosting ahead of time and freeze it, be careful to slowly melt the frosting so it doesn’t seize.