Black Forest Cookies

My favorite cake is Black Forest. Wait! This is a cookie blog. Why on earth would I be writing about cake? Well, I love chocolate and cherries together so I decided to try a recipe I found in an old issue of Martha's Everyday Food for Black Forest Cookies. The recipe was very easy to follow. The only ingredient I didn't have on hand was the 1 1/2 cups of dried cherries which I picked up at the grocery store in the bulk items area. I find it strange that in today's high tech world that I still have to write the code for the cherries (407) on a round stickie label and affix it to the outside of the bag. Can't the grocery store manager invest in a scale which prints out bar codes? I digress. Back to the cookies.

There are three kinds of chocolate in the cookies which make them oh so delicious. Two tablespoons of cocoa powder. I used Hershey's which never disappoints. Next up was the 8 ounces of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate. I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chips (melted) which I think really make this cookie special. When I'm melting chocolate in a recipe, I generally use chips since they melt quickly and are usually cheaper than if I had bought the same amount of chocolate in bar form. We are in a recession and I'm on a budget. Finally, 12 ounces of chocolate chunks finished off the chocolate triple play. I used Hershey's semisweet chunks which worked well with the melted bittersweet chocolate.

Another thing I really liked about this recipe is that I didn't need to pull out and dirty my Kitchen Aid mixer. All of the ingredients mixed nicely in the double boiler I used to melt the chocolate and butter. The cookies baked nicely, but it was difficult to tell if they were actually browning or still in need of another minute or two in the oven. Let them cool on the sheets for at least two minutes before moving them to cooling racks since they will be brittle.

The result was chocolate perfection! Soft, luscious, and super chocolaty. The cherries provide a wonderful contrast to the rich chocolate. You could probably use dried cranberries instead, however, I recommend you stick to the recipe and use cherries. Next time, I may try to incorporate marshmallows into the batter or spoon a dab of marshmallow fluff on the top of each just before baking.

I took some into work and shared them with two of my co-workers, Sheryl and Marissa. We share an office so it's not hard to notice when either (or both, in this case) are having a bad day. I took out the cookies, shared them and immediately the tense feeling lifted like a plane rising above the clouds into a sunny sky. The cookies were deemed the "ultimate PMS solution". Watch out Pamprin, there's a new kid in town.

Happy baking!