Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies with Almonds

I know I’ve been gone a while, but this recipe should prove adequate peace offering. These tasty treat depicted here not be photogenic, but don’t let that dissuade you. I make a lot of cookies, and I flatter myself that most of them are quite tasty. These, however, are in another category of tasty altogether. I think they might be my favorite drop cookie ever. Yes, ever. This is not a claim I would make lightly.

The name here is plenty descriptive. These cookies have cocoa powder and chocolate chips, ergo double chocolate. They also have dried sour cherries and toasted almonds because cherries and almonds are like chocolate and peanut butter: they always work together. The recipe also calls for half a cup of red wine, which is a new one to me in a drop cookie.

The first time I tried to make this, I added an extra egg because I was sure – sure! – that the wine in the batter would evaporate and leave me with a crumbly, dry mess. There’s only a stick of butter and one egg, yet the amount of cocoa powder and flour is equal to that of your average (two stick, two egg) chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was wrong. The cookies were great, but they were only great because I tipped in extra flour and cocoa powder once it became clear that the extra egg had given me an extremely soupy batter rather than a semi-stiff dough. There’s a moral here: trust everything you read on the internet. Everything.

Learn from my mistakes. If you must futz with this recipe, futz away, but be aware that the wine really does suffice in place of more butter or egg. In fact, I rather prefer the texture of these cookies to other drop cookies. They’re chewy without being flat, soft without being dry. The texture is so great that I’m now wondering if white wine might be a nice substitute in any number of drop cookie recipes.

Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies with Almonds
adapted from the Food Network 

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup red wine (I used a blend from a box because I’m fancy like that)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 12-oz. bag chocolate chips
1 ½ - 2 cups dried tart cherries (Trader Joe’s has good ones)
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds, preferably toasted (optional but quite nice)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine butter, sugars, extract, and egg. Mix in wine. In a smaller bowl, sift or whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet ingredients, then stir in chocolate chips, cherries, and almonds.

Drop by tablespoons onto silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the middles look just barely set. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Makes 3-4 dozen.

Printable recipe here.