Name: Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened; 1/2 c. brown sugar; 1/2 c. sugar; 1 egg; 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 1/2 c. flour; 1/2 c. cocoa powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 24 maraschino cherries; 1/2 c. chocolate chips

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full disclosure here.

Jump to Recipe

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies have a rich, brownie like thumbprint cookie topped with a maraschino cherry and chocolate drizzle on top.

I don’t know about you but whenever I think about chocolate covered cherries it reminds me of my childhood. People used to buy them by the box and then we’d have them at holiday gatherings. It was always a huge treat.

Nowadays I hardly ever get an actual chocolate covered cherry but I certainly eat enough desserts with both chocolate and cherries in them. When I saw these chocolate thumbprint cookies with a cherry in the middle I couldn’t wait to give them a try.

I love that these cookies use maraschino cherries as well. These cherries scream childhood, sundaes, and Shirley Temples. There’s a sense of nostalgia whenever one eats one.

Ingredients:

butter
sugar
brown sugar
egg
vanilla extract
flour
cocoa powder
salt
baking soda
baking powder
maraschino cherries

To Make the Cookies: In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix and then add to the butter mixture. Beat until well combined. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place them on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Push your thumb into each cookie to make an indentation and place a cherry into each indentation. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Making the chocolate cookies was fairly simple. I was happy to see that I didn’t have to refrigerate the dough. I always hate making cookie dough then having to put it in the refrigerator to chill while I do something else because I don’t always want to come back and finish the cookies.

I had all the ingredients on hand as they are typical ingredients I use in my cookie recipes. The only thing I had to go out and buy was a jar of maraschino cherries. I bought the ones without stems because you don’t need them in this recipe and will just pull them off anyhow.

How do I make the indentation in the cookie?

Most people simple use their thumb or a finger to make the indentation. However, you can use a teaspoon as well. I like to spray mine with cooking spray and press into the cookie to make the perfect, same size indentation on all of them.

What type of cocoa powder should I use?

That is totally up to you. I ended up using regular unsweetened cocoa powder in these cookies but I know a lot of people like Dutch unprocessed cocoa powder. I think the regular cocoa powder gives a rich, brownie like flavor to these cookies.

What can I do with the leftover maraschino cherry juice?

You can save it and use it in cocktails and drinks in place of grenadine. You can also put it in ice cube trays and freeze the juice to use later. This juice is also great for flavoring cherry cupcakes, cakes, cookies, and frosting. I usually try to save about half a cup to use in my baking. If that isn’t your cup of tea put some into your coke to make a cherry coke!

How do you store these cookies?

Store the cookies in an air tight container. Putting them in a flat, single layer container is preferred because of the cherry and the frosting but if you need to stack them put waxed paper or parchment paper in between the layers. These cookies will keep for for up to 5 days at room temperature.

I was happy to note that the cookies didn’t spread at all. Sometimes cookies like these will spread and then they lose their thumbprint look. I also like that you bake the cherry in the cookie because it almost caramelizes the outside of the cherry.

Once the cookies are baked I left them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to firm up before transferring them to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely.

More Cookie Recipes:

Once the cookies have cooled you need to make the drizzle. There are several ways you can do this. I used the easy way and just simply melted chocolate, put it in a zip top baggie, and drizzled it over top of the cookies.

The original recipe calls for a ganache like frosting flavored with the cherry juice but I tried to make it twice and both times my chocolate seized up on me so I gave up on that method. You can use whichever method you’d like but the plain chocolate drizzle was tasty, it looked good, and it was easy.

These cookies were delicious! Rich, chocolate cookies topped with a sweet cherry and that chocolate drizzle on top. They are lookers too and would be amazing on any holiday cookie platter.

If you’ve tried my Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on: