The Second Date with Cherries and Chocolate

 As I have said before, dried cherries and chocolate is a great combination. Dried cherries are chewy with a hint of sweetness and a bit tart.  I think they make a surprising and special addition to a cookie.

I have featured my double chocolate cherry cookie recipe earlier in my blog. But this is another twist using whole wheat flour, dried cherries and chopped chocolate.

                  

The inspiration:  It was a page at the back of Martha Stewart Living Magazine’s February issue that caught my eye.  It was “chewy chocolate-chunk cherry cookies."  I kept going back to it…so I just had to finally give it a try. 

 I put my own twist on the recipe by using whole wheat flour and a mix of dark chocolate and bittersweet chocolate chopped instead of semi-sweet.  I used whole-wheat flour which created a darker cookie, but they were still so soft and chewy!  Using more brown sugar than sugar creates a flatter cookie.  But when put in an air-tight container, they are still just as soft the next day. 

You can stack them up between parchment paper and they make for a sweet treat to give to others. :)

                   

Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cherry Cookies

• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups of wheat flour and 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 12 ounces (2 ½ cups) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used a mix of dark chocolate and bittersweet chocolate)
• 8 ounces dried cherries (1 ½ cups)

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

-Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla, then flour mixture. Beat in chocolate and cherries. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

- Roll dough into 1 ¾-inch balls (about 3 tablespoons each), and arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets set on wire racks for 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; let cool completely.