Cherry Chocolate Cookies

For those of you who haven’t yet killed yourselves with the recipe below for Absurdly Simple Vanilla Ice Cream (How many egg yolks?) here’s my recipe for cherry chocolate chocolate chip cookies, so rich that I make them only at Christmas time. Paired with the ice cream, they could be used as a murder weapon against the cholesterol-challenged. Or, you could simply have one with a cup of tea.

IRENE’S CHERRY CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Prep time: 20 minutes to mix, ten minutes to bake
Makes 6 dozen

Ingredients:

3 sticks butter, softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract, rum, or Curacao
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/8 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp salt
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup dried cherries

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla or other flavoring and beat until fluffy.

3) In another bowl, thoroughly whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add chips, nuts and cherries, and combine with butter mixture until well blended.

4) Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

5) Bake ten minutes. Remove from oven, let set for a minute and transfer to a cooling rack.

Delish. Quite easy to make, too; no rolling, no hand-crafting, no little artistic touches required. Just make sure to leave some space around them on the baking sheet so that they don’t run together.

Happy holidays, and enjoy the cookies!