Day 12 … Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Remember those chocolate covered cherries that always made an appearance on Christmas Eve at your Grandma’s house? Cherry cordials I believed they’re formally called. Sometimes, if you were really lucky, she had those little chocolates shaped like bottles filled with “liquors” and you were excited because you thought you were “drinking booze” (though usually only Drambuie was left by the time you found the candy bowl.) Ah, good times! Today’s cookie, to cap off the 12 Days of Chocolate Cookies, is inspired by those funny little memories of holidays past. The Day 12 cookie is a Chocolate Covered Cherry.

They look like plain little chocolate balls but they hide a secret surprise. There’s no weird white goo, and there’s no questionable booze but that cherry is there, a bright red maraschino cherry wrapped in chocolate cookie dough and then glazed. And for fun, I stuffed a little more chocolate inside that cherry. It’s a cookie that will make you smile and toast your Grandma. Enjoy, my friends!

Thanks for playing along this year. I hope between these twelve recipes and all those of years past, you’ve made some great cookies. Have a lovely holiday, be smart and be safe.

36 One Dough/Many Cookies from years past:

Fruity: Jam Thumbprints, Jam Streusel Tarts, Raspberry Linzer Squares, Lemon Poppyseed Buttons, Orange Sesame Crisps, Cranberry Pistachio Coins, Almond Raspberry Strips, Orange Sandwich Cookies, Apricot Rosemary Shortbread, Coconut Lime Sticks, Bourbon Glazed Fruitcake Buttons, Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti, Blueberry Lime Buttons, Date Swirls

Nutty: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Tassies, Maple Black Walnut Cookies, PB&J Sandwich Cookies, Pecan Triangles, 

Spiced: Cinnamon Sugar Pinwheels, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Cardamom Rose Coins, Brown Sugar Wafers with Lemon Lavender Glaze

Chocolate: Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers, Raspberry Chocolate Drops, Chocolate Hazelnut Buttons, Dark Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Espresso Crinkles, 

Bars: Rum Butter Bars, Peppermint Brownie Bars, Banana Walnut Bars

Holiday Classics: Cream Cheese Wreaths, Classic Molasses Cookies, Peppermint Candy Canes

2020 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies line up to date:

Basic Chocolate Butter Cookie Dough

Day 1: Cranberry Cocoa Nib Wafers

Day 2: Chocolate Banana Petit Four

Day 3: Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

Day 4: Andes Mint Chip Cookies

Day 5: Chocolate Lebkuchen

Day 6: Fudge Tarts

Day 7: Chocolate Marzipan Cookies

Day 8: Coconut Bullseyes

Day 9: Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Day 10: Chocolate Almond Crescents

Day 11: Holiday Mallomars

DAY 12: CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY COOKIES

Start with the base chocolate dough – recipe here. I used a dutched cocoa powder for this one. If you make the smallest batch, with 1/8 piece of dough, the measurements get a little funky. A scale will help – one whole large egg white weighs about 1 oz/30 grams.

1. Drain the cherries and pat dry with paper towels. 
2. Stuff a chocolate chip into the center of each cherry.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the room temperature base cookie dough, baking soda, baking powder and egg white(s).
4. Mix on medium speed until well combined.
5. Roll the dough into Tablespoon sized balls.
6. Press chocolate chip filled cherry into the center of the cookie dough, pressing to enclose the dough around the cherry. Give it a little roll on the counter to make sure the cherry is fully enclosed. 
7. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (the cookies can be frozen on a sheet pan until firm, transferred to a Ziploc bag and frozen for up to 2 months. Bake directly from the freezer.)
8. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2-3 sheet pans with parchment or silicone baking sheets.
9. Place the chilled cookie balls on the prepared sheet pans, about 1 ½” apart.
10. Bake 8 minutes until the cookie edges are just firm to the touch, rotating the pans halfway through baking (top to bottom, front to back.) It’s best to slightly underbake this one.
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. For the glaze: melt chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave (50% power in 45 second bursts), stopping just before the chocolate is fully melted.
13. Stir to fully melt the chocolate, add the oil and stir to combine.
14. To coat: Line a sheet pan with a clean sheet of parchment.
15. Dip each cooled cookie into the glaze to fully coat as much as possible.
16. Turn and place on the prepared pan and leave to sit for several hours to allow the glaze to fully set.

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Day 11 … Holiday Mallomars

Alrighty folks! It’s Day 11 of these 12 Days of Chocolate Cookies and I’ve got a project for you. Mallomars. Yes, indeed. It’s the week before Christmas; I think we’re ready for a project. Or perhaps a distraction. A chocolate cookie is topped with marshmallow, dipped in a chocolate glaze and topped with some sprinkles. Making this one is a sticky messy affair but it’s so delicious I think it’s worth it. Some form of this confection is available all over the world as the combination of cookie-marshmallow-chocolate is irresistible (I looked it up; fascinating) so let’s make our own. Technically, mallomars have a graham base but we’re using chocolate (obviously) and just going with it. 

The cookie dough is simple enough, a few additional ingredients to the base dough including a little extra espresso powder to kick that flavor up a notch. I like these on the smaller side – 1 ½” rounds – baked nice and crisp as they’ll soften up over time due to the marshmallow. Now then, we’re back into persnickety territory on these marshmallows. It seems like a lot of ingredients, weird quantities and if you’re making the largest batch with a ½ batch of dough, I recommend making the marshmallow twice; don’t attempt a double batch.  If you’ve topped all your cookies and have extra fluff, pipe it onto a sheet of parchment that’s been lightly sprayed with cooking spray and make some marshmallows for your hot chocolate. A helpful tip: this stuff is sticky. Once piped, let the marshmallow set for a few hours to firm up a bit. They’ll become less sticky and easier to handle with a little time.

Then we’ve got the glaze. I wanted to avoid tempering chocolate, because while ideal, I’m not sure who has time right now to muscle through that. Maybe we’ll get to that post holiday. Anyway, I have a simple glaze of chopped chocolate and vegetable oil that works very well if you take care. Use a higher quality bar chocolate and avoid chocolate chips (the ingredients that make the chips hold that shape tend to screw things up). Melt the chocolate slowly; I use a microwave on 50% power and melt in slow bursts stopping just before the chocolate is fully melted and stirring until smooth. Give the glaze time to set up – like overnight. Let it cool slowly and gently. I tried to rush things and got some streaky blooms which is a bummer but doesn’t affect the flavor in any way.

36 One Dough/Many Cookies from years past:

Fruity: Jam Thumbprints, Jam Streusel Tarts, Raspberry Linzer Squares, Lemon Poppyseed Buttons, Orange Sesame Crisps, Cranberry Pistachio Coins, Almond Raspberry Strips, Orange Sandwich Cookies, Apricot Rosemary Shortbread, Coconut Lime Sticks, Bourbon Glazed Fruitcake Buttons, Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti, Blueberry Lime Buttons, Date Swirls

Nutty: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Tassies, Maple Black Walnut Cookies, PB&J Sandwich Cookies, Pecan Triangles, 

Spiced: Cinnamon Sugar Pinwheels, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Cardamom Rose Coins, Brown Sugar Wafers with Lemon Lavender Glaze

Chocolate: Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers, Raspberry Chocolate Drops, Chocolate Hazelnut Buttons, Dark Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Espresso Crinkles, 

Bars: Rum Butter Bars, Peppermint Brownie Bars, Banana Walnut Bars

Holiday Classics: Cream Cheese Wreaths, Classic Molasses Cookies, Peppermint Candy Canes

2020 12 Days of Cookies line up to date:

Basic Chocolate Butter Cookie Dough

Day 1: Cranberry Cocoa Nib Wafers

Day 2: Chocolate Banana Petit Four

Day 3: Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

Day 4: Andes Mint Chip Cookies

Day 5: Chocolate Lebkuchen

Day 6: Fudge Tarts

Day 7: Chocolate Marzipan Cookies

Day 8: Coconut Bullseyes

Day 9: Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Day 10: Chocolate Almond Crescents

DAY 11: HOLIDAY MALLOMARS

Start with the base chocolate dough – recipe here. I used a dutched cocoa powder for this one. If you have a scale, now is the time to use it. FYI, one standard package of Knox gelatin = 7g. Marshmallow were adapted from this recipe.

1. For the cookies: In the bowl of a standing mixer combine the water and espresso powder until dissolved.
2. Add the room temperature cookie dough, cocoa, sugar and baking soda and mix with the paddle attachment until well combined.
3. Divide the dough into four/two/one piece(s) and roll each between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to a flat sheet about 1/8” thick.
4. Stack the sheets on a sheet pan and refrigerate at least an hour or overnight. The dough sheets can be refrigerated up to 3 days (or frozen up to 3 months) but tightly wrap first to make sure the edges do not dry out.  
5. When ready to bake preheat the oven to 350°F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
6. Remove one sheet of dough from the refrigerator and remove the top sheet of plastic wrap or parchment.
7. With a 1 ½” round cutter, stamp out as many circles as possible and transfer to the prepared baking sheets, ¾” apart.
8. Continue with the remaining dough sheets, rerolling/chilling the scraps as you go.
9. Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until baked through and firm to the touch. Ideally this cookie should be on the crispier side.
10. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
11. For the marshmallow: Combine gelatin with the water and let sit 5 minutes to bloom (aka rehydrate). 
12. Combine corn syrup, honey, sugar, and water in a heavy saucepan; cook until mixture reaches 245°F on a candy thermometer. 
13. Take off heat let cool down to 225°F, about 5 minutes.
14. Add the gelatin and stir until dissolved. 
15. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg white(s) until stiff peaks form.
16. Slowly stream the syrup down the side of bowl into egg whites while beating on low, avoiding the whisk. 
17. Increase the speed to high and continue beating until stiff peaks form and meringue is cool to the touch, about 5 minutes. The mixer will sound noticeably different when the marshmallow is at its proper consistency, almost as if its straining just a bit.
18. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
19. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1” open round plain pastry tip (spray a spatula with cooking spray to make this a bit less messy). 
20. Pipe 1 Tablespoon dollops onto all of the cookies as quickly as you can. Place the piping tip upright on the cookie, squeeze to release the marshmallow as you slowly pull up, then stop squeezing and quickly pull straight up. You may need to give the bag a little flick to release. this takes a little practice so don’t fret if the first few look a little odd; they’ll look fine glazed and sprinkled. Try to avoid touching the piped marshmallows as you go as it is sticky as all get out; use a few sheet pans if needed. (Leftover marshmallow filling can be piped into more kisses onto a piece of parchment lightly sprayed with cooking spray.)
21. Let rest for 2-4 hours to set completely. The marshmallow is quite sticky when freshly piped but will dry out a bit over time and is much easier to handle at that point.
22. For the glaze: combine chocolate and vegetable oil in a heatproof glass bowl over a double boiler or my preferable method of the microwave at 50% power in 60-45 second bursts, stirring between, until the chocolate is not quite melted. Stir until smooth.
23. Add the vegetable oil and stir until fully combined. 
24. To glaze and decorate: Line a sheet pan with a clean piece of parchment paper.
25. If needed, transfer the glaze to a narrow deep bowl, deep enough to accommodate the mallomars. 
26. Grabbing a mallomar by the cookie bottom, dip into the glaze to the cookie edge. Lift up and let excess glaze drip back into the bowl, giving a little shake to help it along.
27. Quickly flip upright and place on the prepared pan, trying not to touch any freshly glazed cookies.
28. Let sit several minutes to allow the glaze to set then decorate with holiday sprinkles, jimmies or very finely crushed/chopped peppermints. Avoid decorations that are a little too large or heavy as they have a tendency to slide right off. The glaze will stay wet for quite a while so there’s no hurry to get those sprinkles on. Give it a little time.
29. Let set, slowly in a moderately cool place, until the glaze is set. Overnight is best.
30. Cookies will keep several days tightly wrapped.
31. Cleaning hints: marshmallow is incredibly sticky so the best approach to cleaning your bowl/tools is to soak them in warm water for a while to dissolve the goo then wash. For the sugar syrup pot, fill with water and bring to a boil to dissolve. 

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Day 10 … Chocolate Almond Crescents

No holiday cookie baking session is complete without some sort of nut cookie rolled in a cloud of powdered sugar. Fact. There are many versions: Mexican wedding cookies, Italian wedding cookies, snowballs, Russian tea cakes, polvorones, nut crescents, sandies. There’s probably a few other names out there for the same basic cookie: a buttery crumbly dough, ground nuts of some type, maybe a little spice and a double dip in powdered sugar while warm. The first to melt a bit from the heat of the cookie and create a sort of powdery icing seal and the second dip to fully coat and guarantee you cannot eat these on the sly. The telltale powdered sugar trail down the front of your shirt is always a dead giveaway.

We’re nearing the end of this season’s 12 Days of Cookies so I thought it was a good time for a chocolate version of this classic. Cocoa powder and ground almonds (and a good dose of butter) make up the base and I’ve tossed a bit of cocoa into that final powdered sugar dip. For a little surprise, I added a few mini chocolate chips too. Shaped into little crescents you’ve got a riff on a classic and a new shape for that cookie platter. Have at it.

36 One Dough/Many Cookies from years past:

Fruity: Jam Thumbprints, Jam Streusel Tarts, Raspberry Linzer Squares, Lemon Poppyseed Buttons, Orange Sesame Crisps, Cranberry Pistachio Coins, Almond Raspberry Strips, Orange Sandwich Cookies, Apricot Rosemary Shortbread, Coconut Lime Sticks, Bourbon Glazed Fruitcake Buttons, Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti, Blueberry Lime Buttons, Date Swirls

Nutty: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Tassies, Maple Black Walnut Cookies, PB&J Sandwich Cookies, Pecan Triangles, 

Spiced: Cinnamon Sugar Pinwheels, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Cardamom Rose Coins, Brown Sugar Wafers with Lemon Lavender Glaze

Chocolate: Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers, Raspberry Chocolate Drops, Chocolate Hazelnut Buttons, Dark Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Espresso Crinkles, 

Bars: Rum Butter Bars, Peppermint Brownie Bars, Banana Walnut Bars

Holiday Classics: Cream Cheese Wreaths, Classic Molasses Cookies, Peppermint Candy Canes

2020 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies line up to date:

Basic Chocolate Butter Cookie Dough

Day 1: Cranberry Cocoa Nib Wafers

Day 2: Chocolate Banana Petit Four

Day 3: Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

Day 4: Andes Mint Chip Cookies

Day 5: Chocolate Lebkuchen

Day 6: Fudge Tarts

Day 7: Chocolate Marzipan Cookies

Day 8: Coconut Bullseyes

Day 9: Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

DAY 10: CHOCOLATE ALMOND CRESCENTS

Start with the base chocolate dough – recipe here. I used a natural cocoa powder for this one but I think I’d prefer the darker color of a dutched cocoa on this one.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 2-3 baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper.
2. In a standing mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, combine room temperature chocolate cookie dough, smaller measure of powdered sugar, baking powder, chopped almonds, chocolate chips, cornstarch, salt and water on medium speed until thoroughly combined.
3. Shape 2 teaspoons of dough into 2 ½” logs and bend into a crescent shape. Place 2” apart on the prepared sheet pans.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes until firm and just firm to the touch. 
5. While the cookies are baking, sift the larger measure of powdered sugar and cocoa powder together in a medium bowl.
6. Let the cookies cool for a minute or two until still warm but firm enough to handle. Right out of the oven the cookies are quite delicate.
7. While the cookies are still warm, drop a few a time into the bowl, shaking to fully coat cookie. 
8. Gently remove the cookies and shake a little to remove excess sugar.
9. Transfer to parchment lined sheet pans to cool completely.
10. If desired, give the cookies another toss in the powdered sugar mixture for an additional coat.
11. Cookies, tightly wrapped, will keep for several days. If you’d like to make ahead, shape the cookies and freeze on a sheet pan. Once solid, transfer to a Ziploc bag labeled with the cookie name and cooking time/temperature and store up to 3 months in the freezer. Bake directly from the freezer, adding a few minutes to the baking time and proceed with the recipe as directed.

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Day 9 … Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Why do peanut butter and chocolate go so well together? Is it the deep rich notes of the chocolate, contrasted against the salty, creamy notes of the peanut butter? I really don’t know but I can tell you, in a cookie, I just really like it. So today for Day 9 of the 12 Days of Chocolate Cookies, that’s what we have: Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies.

A few basic things are added to the base dough to make it a little firmer when baked then it’s rolled thin and cut into cut shapes. I went with fluted squares because I like them. Nice and neat and tidy. I also used that special black cocoa here because I wanted that really dark color that looks so nice against the filling. Remember the cardinal rule of cut out cookies: roll warm, cut cold. This one warms up fast as you go so keep rotating pieces in and out of the fridge as you work. Now let’s talk about this filling. It is utterly delicious – creamy peanut butter with a bit of honey, sugar and salt, it’s got that whole salty-sweet thing going on that I find irresistible. Between two dark cookie layers? It’s even better.

36 One Dough/Many Cookies from years past:

Fruity: Jam Thumbprints, Jam Streusel Tarts, Raspberry Linzer Squares, Lemon Poppyseed Buttons, Orange Sesame Crisps, Cranberry Pistachio Coins, Almond Raspberry Strips, Orange Sandwich Cookies, Apricot Rosemary Shortbread, Coconut Lime Sticks, Bourbon Glazed Fruitcake Buttons, Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti, Blueberry Lime Buttons, Date Swirls

Nutty: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Tassies, Maple Black Walnut Cookies, PB&J Sandwich Cookies, Pecan Triangles, 

Spiced: Cinnamon Sugar Pinwheels, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Cardamom Rose Coins, Brown Sugar Wafers with Lemon Lavender Glaze

Chocolate: Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers, Raspberry Chocolate Drops, Chocolate Hazelnut Buttons, Dark Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Espresso Crinkles, 

Bars: Rum Butter Bars, Peppermint Brownie Bars, Banana Walnut Bars

Holiday Classics: Cream Cheese Wreaths, Classic Molasses Cookies, Peppermint Candy Canes

2020 12 Days of Cookies line up to date:

Basic Chocolate Butter Cookie Dough

Day 1: Cranberry Cocoa Nib Wafers

Day 2: Chocolate Banana Petit Four

Day 3: Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

Day 4: Andes Mint Chip Cookies

Day 5: Chocolate Lebkuchen

Day 6: Fudge Tarts

Day 7: Chocolate Marzipan Cookies

Day 8: Coconut Bullseyes

DAY 9: CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH COOKIES

Start with the base chocolate dough – recipe here. I used a black cocoa for this one, mixed 60/40 with a dutch cocoa for best flavor.

1. For the cookies: In the bowl of a standing mixer add the room temperature cookie dough broken into small pieces, cocoa, sugar and baking soda and mix with the paddle attachment until well combined.
2. Divide the dough into four/two/one piece(s) and roll each between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to a flat sheet about 1/8” thick.
3. Stack the sheets on a sheet pan and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight. The dough sheets can be refrigerated up to 3 days (or frozen up to 3 months) but tightly wrap first to make sure the edges do not dry out.  
4. When ready to bake preheat the oven to 350°F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
5. Remove one sheet of dough from the refrigerator and remove the top sheet of plastic wrap or parchment.
6. With a 2” cutter of whatever shape you wish, stamp out as many shapes as possible and transfer to the prepared baking sheets, ¾” apart.
7. Continue with the remaining dough sheets, rerolling/chilling the scraps as you go.
8. Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until baked through and slightly firm to the touch.
9. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
10. For the pb filling: in a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or for smaller quantities, in a bowl with a rubber spatula), beat the filling ingredients together until combined and smooth. 
11. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round or open star tip, if you like. Truly, a tip isn’t necessary, but it makes for neater edges. (A Ziploc bag will work too). 
12. To assemble: Flip half the cookies over and pipe about 1 Tablespoon of the filling onto the backside of each cookie.
13. Top with another cookie, top side up, pressing slightly to adhere.
14. Store between layers of parchment in an airtight container up to 3 days.
15. Do ahead: it’s best to make and freeze the dough and bake as needed rather than freeze baked cookies. Frozen dough will keep up to 3 months. You can freeze the dough then let come to room temperature and proceed at step #8 or I find it much easier to roll/chill/cut and freeze the cut rounds of cookie dough between layers of parchment. Then just bake the cut frozen cookies as you like. The filling can also be frozen for up to 2 months but needs to be room temperature to pipe.

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