Cherries and chocolate are an amazing combination in cookies, cakes, and candy. Chocolate covered cherries and Black Forest Cake are two such examples. A third example is Chocolate Cherry Bar Cookies, an unusually simple recipe that marries chocolate and cherry flavors with pecans. The pecans add a delicious salty contrast to the sweetness of the cherries and chocolate.
Although the recipe includes milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips may be used instead for a more sophisticated flavor (and a less sweet cookie). Use the best chocolate available for the best taste; chocolate brands such as Ghirardelli and Lindt yield especially decadent cookies.
Chocolate Cherry Bar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter*
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 and 1/4 cup chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark)
- 3/4 cup dried tart cherries (Montmorency cherries are especially good)
- 2 and 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
What To Do
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan.
- Melt the butter. After the butter is completely melted, add the brown sugar and mix until smooth. (This step ensures that the finished bars will have a shiny top "crust", similar in texture to the top of a brownie.) Add the vanilla extract. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
- While the butter, sugar, and vanilla mixture is cooling, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the eggs to the butter, sugar, and vanilla mixture one at a time. Beat the mixture after each egg is added.
- Add the flour mixture and little at a time and stir to combine.
- Stir in the chocolate chips, dried cherries, and chopped pecans.
- Spread the batter into the greased pan. The batter will be lumpy.
- Bake the bar cookies at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, until the top of the cookies is shiny and golden. If a tester is inserted at this point, it will not come out clean. However, it is important not to overbake these cookies or they may be dry and crumbly when they are cut. Just take the pan from the oven when the tops of the bars are shiny and golden, and the cookies will firm up at room temperature.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a baking rack before cutting. If a non-stick pan was used to bake these bar cookies, a plastic knife is recommended for cutting the cookies to avoid damaging the pan. However, the cookies may have ragged edges, since plastic knives are quite dull.
- Enjoy!
*Lower-Fat Cookie Variations
The fat content of the cookies can also be reduced by replacing 1/3 cup of butter (half of the fat in the recipe) with 1/3 cup pureed prunes (baby food prunes work well). However, the cookies will have a less dense, more cake-like texture. In addition, the final product will be darker in color than if the full amount of butter is used.
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