Chocolate Covered Cherry Thumbprint Cookies

All three of my boys love these cookies, and any moma who cooks knows that is saying something! They are deeply chocolate, have a fudgy frosting, and you could literally say there is a cherry on top. I don't know where this recipe came from; I have been making it since my guys were tiny (20+ years). What I do know is that kids love to help with this one. A big kid can roll the balls of dough, a younger can make thumbprints, and a small one can plop in cherries. A big person is best for doing the frosting. Otherwise it will end up drooled over everything and into every mouth it gets close to ;)

The recipe is a very easy one. The only hard thing is making the dough come together. It is extremely dry, but you don't want to add more liquid because these cookies are not meant to spread. You will mix the ingredients and it will look like you can't do anything with it! It's okay, just take a palmful of the "sawdust" and put your other palm over it.

Gently rub your palms together in very small movements. This will heat the butter and make the dough come together, and the circular movement will form a ball. Try it a couple times and you'll get it!

Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Use your thumb to make a divot to hold the cherry. I have big fingers! For a child they may need to make two prints on each cookie.

Then place a cherry in each well, two if there is room. These are just plain Maraschino cherries from the store.

Now you make the frosting. I love this part so much- it is the only recipe I have ever seen where you put on the frosting and then bake the cookie!

And the frosting is condensed milk, melted chocolate chips, and cherry juice. It cooks up to a thick fudge that is just heavenly.

Use a spoon and just let it drool out onto the cherry and kind of swirl the spoon so that you get some all the way around. This recipe makes plenty of frosting for all the cookies, so you don't need to scrimp.

Here they are ready for the oven. Yum!

I bake for about 10 minutes, which is longer than other cookies. I wait until the edges of the cookies and the frosting have cracked marks like below.

 But I was looking at these pictures and realized how gorgeous the red of the cherries was on the dark chocolate until they were covered over with frosting. I had some Maraschino cherries with stems on them and decided to try leaving them visible for a splash of red. I just frosted the cookies first, and then added my cherries and baked.

They turned out very pretty, and looked like something perfect for Valentine's Day! However, I think the ones where the cherry is covered and then baked into the fudgy goodness of the frosting might be tastier. But this is an option for a very holiday looking cookie.

 I hope you bake these with, or for, some kids. They will have fun making and eating them, and so will you. I mean, just look at the gooey moistness and that little hidden surprise!

 Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

 Heat oven to 350 degrees

Beat:

1/2 cup (one stick of butter) grated and softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat in:

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda.

Shape crumbly dough into balls (see tips above) and place on baking sheet. Press indentions with thumb. Place a Maraschino cherry in each well.

Frosting-

melt:

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

4 tsp cherry juice

Spoon the frosting over the cherry on each cookie. Bake for approx 10 minutes, turning halfway through. Cool a few minutes on the sheet and then remove to a cooling rack. The cookies stay soft, so don't stack them or they will stick together. Enjoy!