BuzzinBumble

These cookies are always a huge hit and have been tweaked to perfection over the years, so my elves and I thought we'd share our recipe:

Black Forest Cookies (photo below)

Preheat oven to 350 / Prep time ~ 45 minutes / Baking time 12-15 minutes.
These cookies can be made ahead of time and freeze very well!

Drain, reserving some of the juice for later use:
4 One lb. jars of Maraschino cherries (this amount allows some theft)
Chop into quarters. Set aside.

Combine these ingredients in a bowl and set aside:
3 cups flour
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder (Dark Dutch cocoa if you can find it)
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt

Melt these in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until just melted:
1 cup of real butter
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (we use Ghirardelli’s)

Pour butter/chocolate mix into large mixing bowl. Cool 10 minutes
Whisk in:
1 cup, packed, of brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsps of real vanilla extract

Gradually add in dry ingredients, occasionally scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Mix in:
1/2 of the previously chopped cherries (save the other ½ for the icing)
3/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Drop by rounded tablespoons of dough, roughly 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until firm to the touch but not hard. Remove from sheets and cool on racks.

Cherry Frosting:
Beat together until creamy:
3/4 cup of softened butter
2/3 cup of marshmallow fluff
4 or 5 cups of confectionary sugar

Stir in the remaining chopped cherries. Add a little more cherry juice if you like your frosting pinker. Spread frosting on each cookie and let set until dry (a few hours at least). Refrigerate or freeze in a rigid container with wax paper, parchment paper or foil between the layers. Keeps well for more than one week in refrigerator. (Or store in another cold protected area) These cookies actually get even better with a day or two to age.

Also pictured below are some of our family Elves in their Christmas Aprons (I've been collecting them and gifting them for years) My dear daughters and both sisters-in-law are fabulous cookie bakers.<O</O

Enchanted Quilter

I love those cookies but the aprons are AWESOME.

nancia

do you really mean 4 pounds of cherries? that's an awful lot! or did i misread it?!

BuzzinBumble

Yep - I really meant four 1 lb jars. You might be able to make do with three, but that would be a personal preference. My son usually steals a few of them while they are draining.
Nancia - by the time the juice is drained off and the cherries are chopped, they are more like 2 pounds, if that. So it isn't really an awful lot. If you look at the picture you can see the frosting isn't over cherried. They are a big part of why these cookies are so loved. We have several people who beg us for them every year.


Enchanted Quilter... Thanks! A lot of those aprons must have at one time or another been sold as fabric panels, because sometimes you see the same designs with different waiste bands. It would be so cool if some fabric company brought them back.

BuzzinBumble

Oh goodness! Just took a peak on eBay and found 3 yards of Vintage Christmas Kitten Apron fabric like the one in the top left of my apron collage:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Mischiev...item2eba07b06d

And then one already made up here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-CHRI...item2c61bc5a93

Caswews

Wow ... very nice on both !!! thanks for sharing !!

SandyinZ4

I can't wait to try this recipe! Thanks ever so much!

pls1946

It is Christmas Day, so don't think with all the sweets around, I can justify baking your Black Forrest Cookies. But as soon as some of the cache is deleted or devoured, you can bet I will be trying them. Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!