Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies — The Sweet Tradition Behind Three Hundred Croissants and One Very Full Heart

December 2027. The channel crossed 650,000 subscribers and I filmed a year-end video about the third book and what 2027 had been. Mason and Ethan both in the same city, both in food, both building something. Olivia in D.C. shaping policy. Noah in high school writing with more purpose every month. Gary and I in this kitchen that has now been the center of twenty-two years of family life.

I've been getting letters again — the handwritten ones that mean someone was moved enough to find a pen. One this week from a woman in her seventies who said the third book had given her permission to keep cooking for her grandchildren even though her hands weren't as steady as they used to be. She said the book reminded her that imperfect food made with love is still the best food. I wrote back. I always write back.

Christmas preparations in the kitchen: the cookies, the gingerbread, Noah making his grandmother's biscuits as a Christmas morning tradition now firmly established. Mason came home for Christmas and made croissants — three hundred of them, technically perfect, which he then distributed to every neighbor on the street. Gary drove him on the delivery run at seven in the morning and came back smelling like butter and laughing. Three hundred croissants. My son, making three hundred croissants for the neighbors. That's this family. That's exactly this family.

A good year. The best kind: full of what matters, missing what's still absent, grateful for both.

Mason’s three hundred croissants were an act of love so specific and so him that I spent the better part of Christmas morning just sitting with the feeling of it—the butter smell on Gary’s coat, the neighbors’ faces, all of it. Christmas baking in this house has always been the language we speak when words aren’t quite enough, and this year I kept coming back to these Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies: rich, a little indulgent, the kind of thing you tuck into a tin and hand to someone to say I thought of you. They’re everything I love about the season in a single bite—and if you’re looking for something to add to your own cookie plate this year, this is the one I’d press into your hands.

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 48 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 48 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry (reserve 3 tablespoons juice)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
4. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
5. Combine wet and dry. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until a soft dough forms.
6. Shape the cookies. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press your thumb or the back of a small spoon into the center of each ball to create a well.
7. Add the cherries. Place one maraschino cherry into the center of each cookie well.
8. Make the chocolate topping. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk, stirring until melted and smooth. Stir in the reserved 3 tablespoons of maraschino cherry juice until incorporated.
9. Top the cookies. Spoon approximately 1 teaspoon of the chocolate mixture over each cherry, spreading gently to cover it. The chocolate will settle around and over the cherry during baking.
10. Bake. Bake for 9–11 minutes, until the cookies are set and the chocolate topping is glossy. Do not overbake.
11. Cool completely. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The chocolate topping will firm up as they cool.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 85 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Carbs: 13g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 30mg