This week’s SMS recipe was chosen by Megan of My Baking Adventures: double dark chocolate cherry cookies! I really enjoy Megan’s blog – she posts lots of goodies I hope to get around making someday, including lots of ice cream and brownies 
I didn’t have any cherries on hand so originally I thought I’d substitute raisins since I’m a huge fan of the chocolate and raisin combo. However, I was planning to give the cookies away and I wasn’t sure if the recipients liked raisins (plus I knew Shane wouldn’t eat them if they had raisins in them). So no fruit in these cookies for me.
This cookie recipe was very similar to the chocolate chip cookies we made a few weeks ago. After the dough is mixed it gets some time in the refrigerator before it is shaped into logs and chilled again. I made the mistake of mixing my dough and then leaving it in the fridge for about 5 or 6 hours when I got busy with something else. When I finally took it out it was rock hard so I used the heat of my hands to warm it up for a while before shaping it into logs. I love the slice and bake aspect of Melissa’s cookies. I find it much easier than scooping out individual cookies and I think the cookies bake up perfectly (though the chill time probably has something to do with that too)!
It was a bit tricky to tell when these cookies were done because they’re so dark but I wound up baking mine for about 13-14 minutes. That left them nice and chewy. They’re really delicious and, as expected, super chocolately and rich! I only had one and that satisfied me. I really want to make them again and try adding the raisins, which I think I’ll really enjoy. Many thanks to Megan for this week’s great pick! You can check out the recipe on her blog and be sure to visit the Sweet Melissa site to check out all of this week’s cookies!
Lemon Bars
Glazed Grapefruit Cake
Orange Sherbet
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake
I actually don’t like the fruit/chocolate combo, so I should have sent you my bag of dried cherries!
I’m glad you liked these, your cookies came out so much darker than mine – I’d love to know what brand of cocoa powder you used.
these cookies look so chocolatey. I m a chocoholic these will be great for me. I
m already drooling
Your cookies are so dark, my mouth is watering just from looking at them…
Katie xox
Slice and bake is definitely easy for when you want to bake off the cookies later. I liked these, too, much more than I thought I might. Glad I gave ‘em away! Nice pictures, Tracey!
Those look so dark and delicious! I love scoop and bake better, but that’s because I like to play with the icecream scoop..haha
Those look great! I bet the recipients must have been psyched!
I think I may have gained a couple ponds just LOOKING at those!
Yummy – nice pics! I’d like to know what kind of cocoa you used, too!
Glad you liked these. Yours look so dark!!!
I love how your cookies are so dark they make the chocolate chips look pale! Great job, and I skipped the cherries too.
They look so dark and delicious! I agree, trying to tell when they were done was the trickiest part.
@Megan and @Jessica – I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. I think it’s a blend of natural and Dutch process cocoa. I’ve never found Dutch process cocoa (though admittedly I haven’t looked too hard) so I always use the Hershey’s Special Dark when a recipe calls for Dutch process.
http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/specialdark/index.asp?name=Cocoa
Great looking cookies. I left the cherries out and thought they tasted great!
great job on the cookies!
The look great! I love the slice and bake method since it makes it so easy to freeze the dough to save for later. I can never find the Hershey’s Dark Cocoa around where I live anymore, I thought it was excellent cocoa powder and a good price.
I made the same mistake too and forgot about the dough in the fridge!! Mine are in the oven right now… you should try to find dried cherries next time, they are great!
I love how dark they are! I agree, these were really tasty cookies. The raisin idea sounds intriguing, perhaps I’ll give it a try next time.
I hope mine turn out as good as yours, dough is chilling now. Sorry I have been MIA, I have been so busy, but it has made me feel so bad not to have time to comment.
Your cookies look really nice. Raisins and chocolate sounds pretty good. Don’t think I’ve ever tried that. I used craisins instead of dried cherries.
LOL… the cookies made me laugh. When I first saw them I thought it was a picture of a diseased brain. My daughter is a Pre-Med student, so you can imagine where my thoughts are these days!
The cookies look so good and dark!!!
As much as I love dried cherries, I agree that chocolate and raisins make a better combo. These cookes look delicious!
Your cookies look great! They’re so very, very rich!
Hi Tracey!
Beautiful cookies- in that first picture it looks like it’s floating! Haha
To tell you the truth, I’ve never thought of the chocolate/raisin combo, but if it’s something you recommend, I’ll certainly have to give it a try! And I’ll keep my eye out for any recipes where it might work nicely.
Thanks so much for stopping by my site and saying hello- it was lovely to hear from you and it’s fun to strike up a friendship by talking each week. I hope you’re doing well, and I can’t wait to talk again after the next SMS postings!
-Joy
Your cookies look great! I loved these.
Look at that! WOWOWOWOW! I want one so badly right now!! That looks so sinful!
Wow those look rich!
These look great! I ONLY have nice things to say about them and you!
Your blog is great!