Sweet-tart dried cherries, dark chocolate, and rich mocha chips come together in these buttery Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies. Featuring lightly crisp edges and chewy, soft centers, they are a cozy, sophisticated treat to pair with your afternoon coffee or feature on inasrecipes.com and recipe dessert platters!
Orange Cranberry Ricotta Cookies
Table of Contents
here is how these three baking secrets give these chocolate cherry cookies their chewy texture and rich, balanced flavor:
- Why dried cherries are better than fresh: Fresh or maraschino cherries release a lot of extra water into dough while baking, which can make your cookies soggy. Dried cherries hold their shape and absorb the rich butter flavor without making the dough wet or soft.
- Why brown sugar keeps the cookies chewy: Brown sugar contains natural molasses, which attracts and holds onto moisture as the cookies bake. This keeps the centers soft, fudgy, and chewy with a subtle caramel undertone.
- Why cherries, dark chocolate, and coffee taste so good together: Dark chocolate and coffee flavors are deep and rich. The natural tartness of dried cherries cuts through that heavy sweetness, making the chocolate flavor pop while keeping every bite perfectly balanced.
The Recipe: Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 15 min | Bake time: 10–12 min | Chill time: 30 min (optional) | Yield: 18–24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup mocha chips
- ½ cup dried cherries, chopped
Instructions
1.Preheat Oven and Line Pans:350°F (175°C).
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2.Combine Flour and Leavening:Whisk dry ingredients.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
3.Cream Butter and Sugars:2-3 minutes medium speed.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter, packed brown sugar, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light, creamy, and fluffy.
4.Add Egg and Vanilla:Beat until smooth.
Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter mixture, beating until smooth and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5.Incorporate Dry Ingredients:Low speed mixing.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed just until combined and no flour streaks remain.
6.Fold in Chocolates and Cherries:Even distribution.
Gently fold in the dark chocolate chips, mocha chips, and chopped dried cherries using a silicone spatula.
7.Scoop onto Baking Sheets:Leave 2-inch spacing.
Scoop dough into 1½-tablespoon balls onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between cookies for spreading. (Optional: Chill dough balls in the fridge for 30 minutes for thicker cookies).
8.Bake and Cool:10-12 minutes at 350°F.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown while the centers still look soft. Let cookies sit on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes to set, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Pro Tips
- Refrigerate for Less Spread: Chilling the dough balls for 30 minutes before baking solidifies the butter fat, resulting in thicker cookies with softer, chewier centers.
- Stick to Dried Cherries: Avoid canned maraschino cherries or fresh cherry pieces, as their surface moisture bleeds color and creates wet, soggy patches in the cookie base.
- Pull Early for Chewy Centers: Take the cookies out as soon as the edges turn light golden. Waiting until the center browns will produce crisp, crunchy cookies instead of chewy ones.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What are the ingredients for cherry cookies?
Depending on the style of cherry cookie, standard ingredients include:
- Base Baking Ingredients: All-purpose flour, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt.
- Fruit Element: Dried tart cherries, candied glace cherries, or maraschino cherries (drained and blotted dry).
- Mix-ins & Flavorings: Dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, mocha/espresso chips, or almond extract.
What are 10 interesting facts about chocolate chip cookies?
- Accidental Invention: Ruth Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie in 1938 at the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts when she ran out of baker’s chocolate and chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar instead.
- Nestlé Acquisition: Ruth Wakefield sold her recipe to Nestlé for just $1.00 and a lifetime supply of Nestlé chocolate.
- Official State Cookie: The chocolate chip cookie is the official state cookie of both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
- World’s Largest Cookie: The largest chocolate chip cookie ever baked weighed over 40,000 pounds and spanned 102 feet in diameter in Flat Rock, North Carolina (2003).
- Space-Baked Treat: In 2019, chocolate chip cookies became the first food item baked in space on the International Space Station.
- Chocolate Morsel Creation: Nestlé originally included a small scoring tool with their chocolate bars so bakers could chop them into chips before creating pre-made “chocolate morsels” in 1939.
- National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: Celebrated annually on August 4th in the United States.
- America’s Favorite: Chocolate chip cookies consistently rank as the #1 favorite homemade cookie type in North America, accounting for over 35% of all cookies baked at home.
- Dough Temperature Matters: Aging chocolate chip cookie dough in the refrigerator for 24 to 72 hours breaks down starches into simple sugars, producing a rich, butterscotch-like flavor.
- The Cookie Monster Shift: Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster revealed in 2006 that chocolate chip cookies are a “sometimes food,” but they remain his signature favorite treat.
Can you provide a recipe for cherry chocolate chip cookies?
Yes! The recipe detailed above uses all-purpose flour, butter, brown sugar, dark chocolate chips, mocha chips, and chopped dried cherries for a chewy, bakery-style cookie.
What are the cookies with the cherry in the middle?
Cookies with a bright cherry in the middle usually refer to one of two classic baked goods:
- Cherry Thumbprint Cookies: Soft shortbread or sugar cookie dough rolled in nuts or sugar, with a thumbprint indentation filled with cherry jam or a maraschino cherry.
- Maraschino Cherry Chocolate Blossoms: Chocolate or shortbread cookies wrapped around a whole maraschino cherry, often topped or drizzled with chocolate fudge glaze.
Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 57 minutes
- Yield: 18–24 cookies 1x
Description
Soft, chewy cookies packed with dark chocolate chips, mocha chips, and sweet dried cherries for a rich chocolate-cherry treat.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup mocha chips
- ½ cup dried cherries, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter, packed brown sugar, and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light, creamy, and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter mixture, beating until smooth and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed just until combined and no flour streaks remain.
- Gently fold in the dark chocolate chips, mocha chips, and chopped dried cherries using a silicone spatula.
- Scoop dough into 1½-tablespoon balls onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between cookies. Chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for 30 minutes if thicker cookies are desired.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown while the centers still look soft. Let the cookies sit on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes to set, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
For thicker cookies, refrigerate the dough balls for 30 minutes before baking. Use dried cherries rather than fresh or maraschino cherries to prevent excess moisture. Remove the cookies when the edges are just light golden for soft, chewy centers.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 17g
- Sodium: 95mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 25mg