Valentine's Day

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Valentines

February 23, 2011
4.3
3 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes about 60 small hearts
Author Notes

For Valentine's Day this year I wanted to come up with a chocolate cookie that picked up on chocolate-covered cherries. And even though I'm not a big fan of the syrupy candies, I do think tart dried cherries are the best dried fruit Mother Nature invented. So I came up with a chocolate roll-out cookie by interpolating recipes from smittenkitchen and epicurious. But for this chocoholic it was not enough; therefore I gave them a bath. In dark chocolate. Did I mention the Cointreau? The cherries get a soaking for the aromatic and softening effects. These cookies are very good on their own, but wicked good when dipped. —Sadassa_Ulna

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: Sadassa_Ulna is an architectural designer from Philadelphia.
WHAT: A Valentine's Day cookie all grown up: dark, sultry, and boozy.
HOW: Soak tart cherries in Cointreau, then work them into a chocolatey dough. Chill, cut, bake, and dip.
WHY WE LOVE IT: Reminiscent of those gooey cherry cordials -- but oh, so much better -- these cookies hit that chocolate, cherry, and boozy craving that comes around each February. We've subbed in vegetable oil for the shortening in the glaze, and it still works like a charm. —The Editors

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Ingredients
  • Roll-out Chocolate Cherry Cookies
  • 1 cup tart dried cherries (NOT "sweet, dark")
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons Cointreau
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1-2/3 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs, brought to room temp.
  • 2-1/3 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • Dark Chocolate Coating*
  • 7-9 ounces dark chocolate*
  • 3 tablespoons shortening
  • white pearl sugar, OR
  • white chocolate**, optional
Directions
  1. Roll-out Chocolate Cherry Cookies
  2. In a small [microwavable] bowl, mix Cointreau and vanilla together; chop cherries into small pieces and place in bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds (or allow cherries to absorb liquid overnight).
  3. Sift flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a medium bowl, set aside.
  4. Melt chocolate by doing the following: place in small microwavable bowl and cook for 45 seconds, then stir, then cook at 20 second intervals - stirring after each - until smooth. You can also melt your chocolate in a double boiler over boiling water. Allow to cool until comfortable to touch but still very pliable.
  5. Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer; add eggs and mix thoroughly. Add melted chocolate and mix until color is uniform.
  6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add cherries and mix to incorporate.
  7. Place dough between 2 long sheets of wax paper; roll with a rolling pin until almost the size of a standard cookie sheet.
  8. Chill dough for at least 45 minutes; if you are impatient and have the room stick it in the freezer.
  9. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove top wax paper, cut the thin slab into two equal pieces and wrap one and put it back in the fridge. Roll the other half between wax paper until double the size, about 1/4 inch thick, maybe thinner.
  10. Using a cookie cutter, or a little round drinking glass, cut out cookies (or cut rolled dough into 2" squares or diamonds, etc. with a knife) and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. bunch up scraps and re-roll; if dough gets too sticky put it in the freezer for a few minutes.
  11. Bake for 9-12 minutes; times will vary according to size of cutouts. Cool cookies on sheet for five minutes.
  1. Dark Chocolate Coating*
  2. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the shortening. Drop the cooled cookies upside-down into the chocolate, and fish out with a fork and place on a rack to set. When the coated cookies lose their gloss, decorate with white pearl sugar or melted white chocolate dots if desired.
  3. * I did not have "couverture" chocolate, the type used for dipping chocolate; it has extra cocoa butter, which is why I added the palm oil. I used the Trader Joe's Belgian Dark, the type that is sold in packages of three small bars. To me this type is smoother than the huge one-pound bar that TJ's sells. ** I'm not really a fan of white chocolate, but I happened to have some Valrhona white chocolate feves. I put about 10 in a tiny bowl and nuked for 15 seconds, stirred, then another 15. It worked, and being impatient I dropped dots and swirls from a teaspoon. . .

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Recipe by: Sadassa_Ulna

Growing up I was the world's pickiest eater, that is, until my children were born. Karma. Neither of my parents were much into cooking; it was the height of eating fat-free or anything with oat bran added. I taught myself some basics, mostly baking, following the guidelines of a well-worn copy of Joy of Cooking. I was a ballet dancer and a teacher suggested I lose weight. As I began reading about diet and nutrition I became interested in natural foods, which led to a job at a macrobiotic natural foods market in Center City Philadelphia; this was way before Whole Foods came to the area. I learned a lot about food in general. I ate strictly vegan for a while, although I don't now, but I still like it when a recipe can taste great without butter or bacon! In short, my approach to cooking is idiosyncratic, and I don't know very much about cooking meat or proper technique. I love to bake and I am still working on expanding my palate and my repertoire. The hardest part is getting the whole family to try new things! So aside from my food status, I am an architect who likes to garden and play music. I'm married with two kids, and I hope to get a dog someday.

12 Reviews

Candace G. October 11, 2016
Help! I made these following directions exactly, except that I used a rather large cookie cutter. The cookies came out delicious but too cake-like. Should I increase the temperature? Increase the baking time? Increase the flour?
sofia J. May 21, 2013
How are the food values on these??
Jo B. February 17, 2013
I made these cookies (late for Valentine's Day but in time for my husband's birthday!) and they are really delicious. I must admit I cut the sugar just a wee bit, and I got lazy about the additional step of coating with chocolate--I drizzled some chocolate on a few cookies, but stopped, as I had to pack them up and go! But they are wonderfully chocolate-y, cherry-y and not crumbly. Highly recommended! Here's a photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/siwanoypix/8483242594/
Sadassa_Ulna February 17, 2013
Jo thank you so much for letting me know they turned out for you. I will try them with less sugar! Your photos look great. I contacted the editors about the missing step in the recipe, thank you for posting your solution!
Jo B. February 15, 2013
Actually, I think the 3rd step is to cream butter with sugar, then add the somewhat cooled melted chocolate. That makes the most sense to me.
Sadassa_Ulna February 15, 2013
Hi Jo, thanks for catching that and I'm sorry you had to do guesswork. Yes your solution is correct, I will correct the recipe now. If you can, please let me know how it works out for you. Thank you for making these!
Jo B. February 15, 2013
I'm making these right now--they look gorgeous!--and I'm guessing that there's a step either left out or assumed between #2 and #3--melting chocolate and mixing with softened butter? That's what I'm doing, so I hope so! Or is it melting butter and chocolate together and allowing them to cool a bit? I'll report back how they go. Apologies if I'm skim-reading!
Kitchen B. February 13, 2013
Yay, many congratulations - they look delicious!
em-i-lis February 13, 2013
these are so lovely!! congrats!
Sadassa_Ulna February 13, 2013
Thank you so much! This has made my day. I heart food52!
fiveandspice February 13, 2013
Oh. Yum.
Jennifer A. April 25, 2011
Yum! This is right up my alley.