What's better than freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies! This fun and easy-to-make twist on the classic cookie is perfect for Valentine's Day or any time of year.
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Chocolate and cherry is one of the most underrated flavor combinations. Ben and Jerry know what they're doing with Cherry Garcia ice cream.
And any brand that makes chocolate-covered cherries, which are mostly available around Valentine's Day.
But I'm putting out a call to make more treats with chocolate and cherries. And I'm kicking things off with these cherry chocolate chip cookies.
🍒 What kind of cherries to use?
When talking about cherries, it's important to first know what kind of cherry we're talking about!
For these cookies, I use maraschino, which are sweet and fun in terms of color. However, you can use any kind of cherry you want and, of course, fresh are always a yummy idea when they're in season.
But since I was making these cookies for Valentine's Day, fresh cherries weren't in season, and I wanted to make a cookie you can enjoy any time. The maraschino cherries add a fun color and lots of sweet flavor. Plus, you can always find them on the grocery store shelves!
You can even use dried cherries if you prefer. Just be sure to view content below for advice on what to do if you're using fresh or dried cherries instead of maraschino.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make these cherry cookies (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of the post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Maraschino cherries
- Maraschino cherry juice
- Chocolate chips: I like using bittersweet, but you can use semi-sweet or even white chocolate if you prefer
🍪 How to make cherry chocolate chip cookies
There's nothing fancy about making these cookies and they're super easy to prep and bake!
Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees and lining two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Of course, you can do this by hand if you prefer.
Mix in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, taking care not to over-mix.
Fold in cherries, cherry juice, and chocolate chips until just combined.
Scoop about 2 tablespoon of cookie dough (I use a #40 cookie scoop) onto the prepared baking sheets about 1 ½ inches apart.
And bake for 8-11 minutes, until cookies are just turning golden around the edges, but are still soft.
Let cookies cool in the pan for a couple minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
The result is a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie that's packed with sweet cherry flavor. And I'm in love.
I love making cherry chocolate chip cookies around the Valentine's Day holiday, but they're delicious any time of year and perfect for anyone who loves the sweet flavor combination.
⏲️ How to store
I recommend storing these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. You may want to place a paper towel on the bottom of the container as these cookies are pretty moist and a paper towel will help absorb moisture.
When stored properly, the cookies should stay fresh for about 5 days.
👩🍳 How to make with fresh cherries
You can certainly use fresh cherries instead of maraschino cherries to make these cookies. Fresh cherries generally contain more liquid than maraschino, so I recommend you stick to one cup chopped, but pat them dry before using.
Fold them into the dough and see what your dough consistency is like. If it seems dry, you can add a little milk. If it seems wet, add a little more flour.
🥣 How to make with dried cherries
For dried cherries, I recommend using about ⅔ cup since they're smaller and more concentrated than fresh or maraschino.
Since they're dried, you'll definitely need to add additional liquid to the batter. I recommend using about 3 tablespoon cherry juice or milk. I also recommend adding 1-2 teaspoon of additional sugar since dried cherries are more tart than sweet.
If you want a softer dried cherry (rather than chewy), you can soak them in warm liquid before adding them to the dough. Soak them in slightly warmed cherry juice, water, or milk for about 15 minutes and then pat them dry before folding them into the dough.
If you soak the dried cherries, you can use the liquid they soaked in for the batter.
Depending on what kind of cherries you use in these cookies, the consistency, sweetness level, and flavor will be a bit different!
🎉 Variations on recipe
I love the simplicity of cherries and chocolate married together in these cookies. But there are lots of additional add-ins and fun things you can do to make these cookies even more suited to your tastes.
Here are some ideas:
- Add nuts like walnuts, pecans, almonds, pistachios, or macadamia nuts
- Add a little almond extract to bring out even more of the cherry flavor
- Use white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet or bittersweet
- Use ruby chocolate chips (these pink chips have a berry taste to them and will enhance the cherry flavor)
- Use cherry baking chips
- Use a "fancy" maraschino cherry like luxardo or amarena
- Add shredded coconut to the cookie dough
- Soak cherries in rum, bourbon, or amaretto before using for a boozy kick
- Top cookies with a cherry icing drizzle
- Dip half the cookie in dark chocolate or add on a chocolate drizzle
- Make a cream cheese icing to top cookies with
- Make cherry cheesecake cookies by replacing the strawberries with cherries in this cheesecake cookie recipe
- Add a little red or pink food coloring to enhance the color of the cookies
- Drizzle some homemade cherry syrup into the cookie batter
These are so many ways to make these cookies your own... Just make sure they're packed with lots of cherries and lots of chocolate!
😍 More fun cookie recipes
Lately, whenever I'm craving something sweet, I find myself in the kitchen baking cookies. I love a standard chocolate chip cookie, but I also really enjoy experimenting with new cookie flavors.
Here are some of my most unique and fun cookie recipes:
And for another delicious way to enjoy cherries and chocolate together, try this Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge.
All I know is that for this Valentine's Day season (and probably the rest of the year), cherries and chocolate is my love language. Take note.
Cherry chocolate chip cookies pair marvelously with a glass of bubbly.
But I've also been known to eat them while standing over my kitchen sink at 11 p.m.
📖 Recipe
Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped maraschino cherries
- 1 ½ tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips (I like using bittersweet, but you can use semi-sweet)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Mix in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, taking care not to over-mix. Fold in cherries, cherry juice, and chocolate chips until just combined.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoon of cookie dough (I use a #40 cookie scoop) onto the prepared baking sheets about 1 ½ inches apart.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes, until cookies are just turning golden around the edges, but are still soft. Let cookies cool in the pan for a couple minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days. Add a paper towel to the container to absorb any extra moisture.
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