Dark Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies

My good friend Melissa told me about these Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies she discovered from her coworker. Her description alone was enough - I had to make them. Bob and my dad both love chocolate-covered cherries, so I knew these cookies would go over well with them. I was surprised by how much I liked them - they are fantastic!!! The cookie part itself is so good, I would be happy with those alone, but the cherry-chocolate glaze is amazing, and I actually enjoyed the maraschino cherry (which I typically don't eat).

I used dark chocolate cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate for the glaze to make these Dark Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies, but you can certainly use semisweet or even milk chocolate. I made these cookies for Christmas so I decorated half of them with Christmas sprinkles, but these cookies would be great for Valentine's Day. They would look so cute with some heart-shaped sprinkles!

Dark Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies

Yield: about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dark or regular cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 (10-ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained, reserve juice
6-ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips (milk chocolate would work too)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and soda, blending well; set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar on low speed until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture; beat until smooth and well blended.

3. With hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on ungreased baking sheet. Press down center of dough with thumb. Drain maraschino cherries well, reserving juice. Place a cherry in the center indention of each cookie.

4. In small saucepan, combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk; heat on low until chocolate is melted. Stir in 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the reserved cherry juice. If frosting seems too thick to spoon over cookies, thin with a little more cherry juice.

5. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the topping over each cherry, spreading to cover cherry.

6. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until done. Remove to wire rack to cool. Store in airtight container.

Source: Adapted from About.com

I made these with Christmas sprinkles, but they would be perfect with Valentine's Day sprinkles or with multi-colored sprinkles for anytime!