Ah, maraschino cherries. They belong right up there with Worcestershire sauce as one of those words that always make me sound like I’ve just come from having my mouth frozen at the dentist when I try and say them. Is it wrong that there are some things I don’t like cooking/baking with purely for the fact that I don’t want to have to say them out loud and completely embarrass myself in the pronunciation? Probably it’s wrong…and in this overly-PC world that we live in, probably also rather discriminatory. Since I don’t want to be accused of being a food-ist, I thought that I better end this trend right here, today (also I had a bottle of maraschino cherries that have been staring me in the face every time I’ve opened my cupboard for quite some time and I just couldn’t stand the guilt and mockery that they were raining down upon me anymore. Have you ever been stared down by some maraschino cherries? Because let me tell you, their burning red eyes are the stuff that nightmares are made of.)
Also, I’ve clearly been on some sort of weird cherry kick lately, what with the cherries in the brownies and the cherry macaroons. However, the shockingly artificial red of the maraschino had not yet made it’s mark, so I figured this was it’s chance to shine (so brightly in fact, that you better crack out the sunglasses before consuming these cookies).
This batch of cookies took mere moments to whip up as well, so if you’re hankering for some warm, fresh from the oven cookies, but you have the patience of a 5 year asking “are we there yet?” every 5 seconds, then these are the cookies for you (also feel free to use them to stuff said 5 year olds face so that you don’t have to listen to the whining anymore. It will likely be a double edged sword though, so don’t blame me when they’re bouncing off the walls in a sugar-laden frenzy 20 minutes later 😉 ).
You can of course also make these cookies full size cookies, but I’m a big fan of the mini cookie and other bite-sized desserts. Partly because it lets you not feel too guilty for eating a cookie the size of your head, but the real reason is that instead of just eating one massively huge dessert, you can have a whole bunch of different small ones! It’s like Christmas everyday, except the kind of Christmas with all the rewards and none of the stress and who doesn’t love that? 😉
Yield: Approx. 2 dozen mini cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted
- 3/4 packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- dash of salt
- 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325F and either grease or line a baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.
2. In a medium sized bowl, beat together butter, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
4. Add the chocolate chips and cherries to the dry mixture and stir until combined/ chocolate chips and cherries are flour-coated.
5. Fold/ stir into the wet mixture in two batches until just mixed (no need to over mix).
6. Using a teaspoon or small cookie scoop, place cookies on cookie sheet about an inch apart. Flatten down each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a flour coated glass.
7. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until only the very edges of the cookies start to brown (I say better to take them out a bit early than late, unless you prefer crispier cookies).
8. Store in an airtight container.
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