Chewy Chocolate Cherry Cookies

[fitfool]

Excellent cookies though they weren't chewy for me. Chocolate cookies with bursts of cherry flavor. I had used a tiny bit less butter than called for and made small tablespoons of dough for the cookies. Michael liked these a lot though he would’ve liked more cherries. Another friend thought the cherry flavors overwhelmed the chocolate. Next time I think I’ll chop up the cherries to spread the bits out more evenly throughout the dough and maybe add more chocolate chips. Also will try to cut back a little on the sugar, add more butter, and bake it a little less because these were more on the crunchy side than chewy (though that might also be because I made the cookies small). I used the electric mixer which made things so much easier. (thank you to everyone who helped me get over my fear of the mixer!) Finished in about 75 minutes and ended up with 43 cookies instead of the predicted 30. (Would bigger cookies have helped keep them chewier?)

Chewy Chocolate Cherry Cookies
“The tartness of the cherries contrasts with the cocoa and semisweet chocolate chips.”
(recipe from Cooking Light)

1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2/3 cup dried tart cherries
3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
   
   
2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
   
   
3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended.
   
   
   
   
4. Add vanilla and egg; beat well.
   
   
   
   
5. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until combined. Fold in cherries and chocolate chips.
   
   
   
   
6. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
   
   
   
   
7. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or just until set. Remove from oven; cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
   
   
   
   Yield: 30 cookies (serving size: 1 cookie)
   

CALORIES 80(30% from fat); FAT 2.7g (sat 1.3g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 1.1g; CHOLESTEROL 12mg; CALCIUM 10mg; SODIUM 56mg; FIBER 0.8g; IRON 0.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.4g
Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2005

Thread at food_porn
Thread at bakery

Edited to add: tersa remembered Alton Brown had talked about how different ingredients affect the cookie's texture. The show's transcript is here: http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season3/Cookie/CookieTranscript.htm

Comments

[chipleduff.livejournal.com]

I got the cookies today. I shared with the RAS. They loved them. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And that book is awesome. I can't wait to start reading it. I already ate some of the pretzels on duty tonight. Thank you so much.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Hooray! I wanted you to go home soon but I also worried the package wasn't going to reach you in time. I'm glad you liked the book. When I saw that one I thought of you and pulled it from our inventory. OK...now you can resume hurrying home :)

[chipleduff.livejournal.com]

Believe me...i will hurry home as fast as militarily possible:)

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm! I might even make these today....
:-)

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

You happen to have dried cherries hanging around the house? I had to hunt all over the grocery store trying to figure out where they kept them. I almost settled for cherry-flavored dried cranberries before spotting the real dried cherries on a stand over by the nuts. (no idea why they didn't shelve them next to the other dried fruits). Worth the hunt though.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

I have the glace ones, but I was planning to use the dried cranberries we had.
:-)

Me <-- sneaky sometimes.
:-)

[neonstilettos.livejournal.com]

I've made these before (love for Cooking Light) and they are really yummy!

Oh, and one good trick to keep your cookies soft is to make sure that the dough and your baking sheets are cold before putting them in the oven. Once I have the dough on the sheets I usually stick them in the fridge for awhile til they're nice and chilly, and then put them in the oven. It's really easy and works like a charm!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Cool. Thanks for the tip!

[ragga-muffin.livejournal.com]

oh my gah. yum.

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

mmm...
I had chocolate cookies with maraschino cherries and I liked the idea, but I think I'd like these better.

[chemdragon1.livejournal.com]

Obviously I can't do much baking now, but I'm going to have to try a lot of these recipes when I can. I love the combo of cherry and chocolate! Mmmmm!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Michael loves that combination too. I keep hearing about this loaf of chocolate cherry bread he once had but that that bakery never seems to have in stock (apparently it's a seasonal flavor).

[fairnymph.livejournal.com]

They look cakey -- they probably would have been chewier instead had you not beaten the egg as much. Beating eggs alot is a common cause of cakey cookies.

I don't think the size would have much impact on their texture.

I would also recommend chilling the cookie dough (after putting it on the sheet) for 30 min in the fridge before baking, and baking the cookies at 375 degrees for a shorter time. Also, replace the baking powder with more baking soda. These are techniques I use to get very chewy cookies.

They look quite good nonetheless and the combo of flavours sounds mouthwatering.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Thanks for explaining about overbeating the eggs. Quite likely since I was excited by using the electric mixer and so I could easily have mixed too much. I'll try your tips out next time. I liked how they tasted. And once I get the chewy texture I'll really like these cookies.

[mimimimi-word.livejournal.com]

I've used this recipe, isn't it wonderful?

One hint, look for dried cherries in the bulk health food section...like where they sell flour, rice, etc in big bins. If you have a Kroger company store near you, they should have a bulk food section in the health food department.

I've been told, cherry flavored cranberries will not do the trick, and are in fact quite nasty. Just word of mouth..

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

The December 2005 issue of Cooking Light gave me so many good recipes. They must've heard I was planning to let my subscription expire. :)
I really like regular dried cranberries. I had imagined the cherry-flavored ones would mostly just be sweeter. But thanks for the warning.