Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Is anyone surprised that I have a Christmas cookie recipe with dried cherries in it? I mean honestly? You should be aware at this point that I salivate at the mere thought of cherries.

This goodie comes from the book Baking Boot Camp. It's actually more of an instructional book, and very cool. It's a diary of sorts of one woman's experience attending a CIA Baking course, including the disciplines of baked-good recipes, the science behind baking, and some wonderful recipes at the back of the book. Hubs gave me this book (and a few other cookbooks) for our anniversary this year, and for that I'm eternally grateful. I highly recommend this sucker if you don't have it already!

Anyhoo, wouldn't you know - the author's recipe for chocolate chunk cookies also happens to include dried cherries(!). Perfect, considering I have quite the stash of dried cherries at my disposal for such a thing. And I wanted to make a chocolate chip-ish cookie for Christmas. This one is good, a nice basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. The cookies end up very soft and the use of bittersweet (instead of semi-sweet) chips is a nice surprise. It plays off the cherries quite well!

So here you go, you knew the cherries were going to be included in a recipe somewhere this holiday season. And they are perfect in this recipe.

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:
3 c. all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. granulated sugar
¾ c. packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
1 c. tart dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla extract. Blend until incorporated.

Mix in the sifted dry ingredients, the chocolate chunks, and cherries. Use one of the following methods to shape the cookies: use two spoons to drop the dough onto cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. If desired, slightly flatten the cookies before baking. Or, roll dough into a log, chill until firm, then slice and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake about 12-14 minutes, and transfer to wire racks to cool.