Twelve Weeks Of Christmas Cookies: Week Two

Chocolate Cherry Surprise Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

15* glace cherries

Method

Preheat oven to 350F

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat again until smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat in until combine. 

Sift all dry ingredients into a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to the sugar and butter mixture and mix with a metal spoon. The next part is the messy part; using a spoon, put a small blob of the chocolate batter between your fingers and flatten slightly. With your thumb, make a small hollow and place one cherry in the hollow. Using your fingers, gather up the sides of the batter around the cherry, then cover the cherry with extra batter. Roll the batter between your palms to make a smooth ball then place on a non stick baking sheet. Repeat until all your batter is gone.

Place in the oven and bake for 10-11 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before dusting with powdered sugar.

I love the pattern the powdered sugar leaves behind

*Approximately. The above mixture made 15 cookies for me, but depending on how large you make the balls you may need more or less. I had both green and red glace cherries, but I only used the red ones this time. For an extra Christmas-y feel, use both the green and red cherries: the Christmas colours.

I didn't make a frosting for this cookie because I didn't think it really needed it.  The glace cherry in the center made it sweet enough.  I was toying with the idea of a chocolate brandy frosting, but decided to leave it as is.

After Work Report:  I came home from work today after leaving the cookies in the bread bin and they had almost all been eaten!  My husband left me two out of the fourteen that I left there.  They must have been very good :-P

Here's what everyone else made this week:

Almond Cherry Choc Cookies

These cookies are delicious. They are flour less so great for people that may be intolerant to gluten and also a little lower carb than regular cookies. They aren't low calorie though! The below recipe makes about 12 cookies and each cookie works out to be around 240 calories, 7g protein, 20g carbs and 15g fat. They are best savoured one a time!

2 cups of almonds

150g glace cherries

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

1 egg

100g organic dark chocolate

1/2 cup Splenda

1/2 cup Caster Sugar or Brown Sugar

Roast almonds in oven and remove to let cool. Place roasted almonds and vanilla paste in a food processor and process until mixture has formed a butter like consistency. Remove almond butter from food processor and in a bowl add sugar, splenda and the egg. Stir mixture well with a spoon. Roughly chop the chocolate and glace cherries and stir into the doughy mixture.

Divide the dough into ping pong ball size balls and slightly flatten on a baking sheet. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes.