Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies-Week 11

We are at week 11, just one more week to go! I still have so many more cookies that I want to make!!

This week I give you one of my favorites! These are really easy to make and will add a little wow factor on your platter. You can add the chocolate drizzle or leave them plain. Just make sure that you really drain and pat your cherries dry before you wrap the dough around them, or it won't stick.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

1 10oz jar maraschino cherries with stems, drained and juice reserved

1 Tbsp cherry juice

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Beat butter in bowl of electric mixer on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder; beat until combined. Beat in the egg and 1 tsp reserved cherry juice. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer, stir in any remaining flour with wooden spoon.

Shape a scant 1 tsp of dough around each cherry. Place in 1 inch paper or foil baking cups and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the top looks dry.

Top with melted chocolate or your favorite chocolate glaze and top if sprinkles, if desired.

Cherry Yum Yum

This is a recipe that I grew up on. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have this dessert. I think my mom found this in an old church cookbook, made it, and it stuck. Shane's birthday was last week and the tradition for my kids and hubby, is that they can choose any type of cake, pie, or whatever for their birthday "cake" and I will make it, or at least attempt it. Shane chose this recipe this year for his birthday. I would think that you could use any flavor of fruit filling and it would be just as delicious. I used a can filling, but if you have homemade around use it too. No need to heat your oven, this is a no bake dessert!

Cherry Yum Yum

Crust:

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 stick of margarine

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

12 oz cool whip, thawed

1 can of cherry pie filling, or fruit of your choice.

To make the crust, melt the margarine and mix with the graham cracker crumbs. Reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture. Press the remaining 2 cups into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.

For the filling: Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and milk until smooth. Fold into the cool whip.

Spread half of this mixture on top of the graham cracker crust. Spread the pie filing evenly over the cream cheese mixture. Once pie filling spread, top with the remaining half of the cream cheese mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining graham cracker crumbs over the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Tea with Queen Abby

Today, I was graciously invited to have tea with Queen Abby. What a wonderful treat on a Saturday afternoon. Without thinking twice about it, we (Queen Abby and myself) made tart cherry scones. I have been wanting to make them ever since Laurie at Quirky Cupcake had made them and shared the recipe. Of course, we had to sprinkle them with pink sugar, and then we drizzled the scones with an orange glaze.

The "queen" herself loved the scones and said that they were the best. As a taste test, we tried the scones with a dollop of white chocolate whipped cream, that will be used in this weeks TWD. Oh my! even better. Not that the scones needed anything else, but this just added a little more sweetness. Even, my (I have no part of feminine genes) husband liked these. He had 2, and even added the cream.

The scones were served with Orange, passionfruit, and Jasmine tea, complete with your choice of 1 sugar cubes or 2. I look forward to many more teas with Queen Abby.

Thanks again to Laurie for sharing her scone recipe!