Sweet and tender cookies with milk chocolate and maraschino cherry centers
Cooking Technique:Bake
Prep Time:Over an hour
Cooking Time:10-20 minutes
Yield:about 2 dozen cookies (1 cookie per serving)
Ingredients
2/3 cup Blue Bonnet®-stick, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
25 marschino cherries, patted dry
1 cup milk chocolate morsels, plus 25 more, divided
Directions
1. Beat Blue Bonnet and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add flour, cherry juice and vanilla; mix well. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Stuff each cherry with 1 of the chocolate morsels; wrap in 1 tablespoon of dough, completely covering cherry with dough. Roll each into ball. Place, 2 inches apart, on ungreased baking sheet. Reserve remaining chocolate morsels for later use.
3. Bake 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet to wire rack; cool 30 minutes.
4. Melt remaining 1 cup chocolate morsels in top of double boiler over low heat. (Or, place in small microwavable bowl; microwave on HIGH 45 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.) Dip tops of cookies into melted chocolate. Return to wire rack; let stand until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. Store in single layer in airtight container at room temperature.
