Description

Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies have a slightly crisp outside with a soft chewy inside, topped with a cherry and chocolate glaze. What could be better!

Ingredients

This recipe will yield 2 dozen cookies using a 1 tablespoon scoop. 1¼ cup All Purpose Flour ½ cup Cocoa Powder 1 teaspoon Baking Powder ½ teaspoon Kosher salt 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons) at room temp 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg at room temp 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract 24-26 maraschino stems removed, drain and reserve 4 tablespoons of the juice. Or if not using a whole jar remove 26 cherries and reserve 2-4 tablespoons of the juice. Chocolate glaze: The following measurements will be enough glaze to glaze all the cookies. If you want a thicker glaze like I did, double the measurements. 2 tablespoons of the cherry juice 2 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons granulated sugar ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

In a large bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and whisk to combine and set aside. Add the room temp butter and 1 cup granulated sugar to your mixing bowl or if using a hand mixer a large bowl and beat together till light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined, scraping down as needed. Add the dry ingredients, about half cup at a time, and mix for 1 minute between each batch, scraping down the sides as needed and mixing till incorporated. Depending on how soft your butter was and the room temp you may want to refrigerate the dough for ten minutes or so it is easier to roll. Take a tablespoon scoop of the dough, roll in your hands into a ball and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, space each ball about 2 inches apart. Using your thumb press an indention into the top of each cookie, place a maraschino cherry into each indention. Once you have completed (And this is very important) place the cookie sheet (with the cookies on it) into the refrigerator and chill for at least an hour. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Place the cookie sheets straight from the refrigerator in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, the cookies should be just set around the edges (Will look dry). Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for about 4 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool while making the glaze (There is really no specific time frame needed for cooling so if you need to bake in batches don’t sweat it.) For a single batch of glaze, add 2 tablespoons cherry juice, water and granulated sugar to a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved, add ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips and stir over medium low heat until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Spoon or drizzle over each cookie according to your desired amount. If desired allow the glave to set a bit, about 5 minutes and spoon or drizzle a second coating.

Makes

24 - 26 cookies

Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies