Why you’ll love them
These black forest cookies are inspired by the classic black forest cake. A chocolate cookie (that’s soft and fudgy) is dotted with chocolate chips and maraschino cherries that look like little jewels.
The cookie dough has real chocolate mixed right in to give them that gorgeous texture and flavour and every bite is delicious.
Simple to make, these chocolate cherry cookies are wonderful as gifts, especially around the festive season. It doesn’t get more festive than those little bright red cherry pieces.
You’ll love these cherry chocolate chip cookies too!
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Ingredients you’ll need
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Dark chocolate: I use a good quality 70% cocoa chocolate in the cookie dough for it’s rich flavour without adding unnecessary sweetness.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar gives these cookies a fudgy texture and makes them taste even more indulgent.
- Butter: Just stick to unsalted butter or, if you only have salted butter, leave out the extra salt required in the recipe.
- Egg: Just one large egg. Make sure it’s at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: Make sure to use a pure vanilla extract as opposed to vanilla essence. The latter is a synthetic flavouring.
- Flour: All you need is plain flour (aka all purpose flour).
- Cocoa powder: I use Dutch processed cocoa powder for it’s dark colour and rounded flavour but you can use regular unsweetened cocoa too.
- Baking soda: The baking soda leavens the cookies but also helps them to spread a little.
- Chocolate chips: There is a combination of dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet chocolate chips) and white chocolate chips. You could use milk chocolate chips too. You could substitute the chips for chocolate chunks from good quality chocolate bars.
- Maraschino cherries: I love the flavour of maraschino cherries and they look like little jewels on these cookies. Make sure to drain and dry them off with paper towel.
How to make black forest cookies
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- First, you’ll need to beat together the butter and sugar until it’s looking light and fluffy. I use a stand mixer but an electric mixer and large mixing bowl will do the trick too. You may want to use a spatula or wooden spoon when you get to the add-ins.
- Add the egg (photo 1) and beat that in until just combined, then add the melted chocolate (photo 2) and beat that in as well. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a number of times throughout these steps.
- Now for the dry ingredients. Simply add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to the bowl and mix that in (photo 3).
- After the flour mixture is mostly combined, add the chocolate chips and cherries (photo 4). Beat until combined. Make sure to reserve a few of each for topping though.
- The last step is to roll them into balls (a bit like the size of a golf ball) and place them 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet, dot the tops with the reserved add-ins (photo 5) then bake! I use a ¼ cup ice cream scoop or cookie scoop to scoop the cookies so they’re all the same size, then roll the balls of dough until smooth.
Tips and tricks
- Weigh ingredients for the best results: This is especially true for the flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively affordable, but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method. Don’t scoop!
- All ovens vary, so keep a close eye on your chocolate cherry cookies as they bake.
- I use a ¼ cup volume cookie scoop to make roughly golf ball-sized scoops of cookie dough.
Storage
These cherry chocolate cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 4-5 days or in the fridge for 5-6 days.
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These black forest cookies are a thick and fudgy cookie loaded with chocolate chips and cherries. With real chocolate in the dough, you know these are good!
Ingredients
- 50 g dark chocolate / semi-sweet chocolate (70% cocoa), melted
- 210 g brown sugar (1 cup packed / 7oz)
- 113 g unsalted butter, softened (½ cup / 1 stick / 4oz)
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 165 g plain flour (all purp flour) (1 ¼ cups / 5.8oz)
- 55 g dutch process cocoa powder (½ cup / 2oz)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup maraschino cherries, drained and dried well
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Stand mixer or electric mixer and bowl
- ¼ cup cookie scoop (optional)
- large baking sheet
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
- If you haven't already, melt the chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring well between each. Set aside.
- Make sure to drain and dry the cherries with paper towel to soak up extra moisture. Chop them into quarters. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with electric beater or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until lightened and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the egg and beat well. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
- Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and beat through just to combine.
- Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, sifting anything that has lumps.
- Pulse a few times until it stops puffing up, then beat on low until almost combined.
- Set aside a small handful of each of the chocolate chips and the cherry pieces then add the rest to the dough. Mix until the dough fully comes together. It will be a little sticky.
- Roll approximately ¼ cup of dough into balls (about the size of a golf ball. I scoop using a ¼ cup cookie scoop, then roll them to smooth the dough out). Place the cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Dot the tops with the reserved chocolate chips and cherries (3-5 pieces on each) then press a little on the top (don’t flatten them).
- Bake for around 14 minutes until outside looks dry and a little bit cracked. Remove from oven and let them rest at least 5 minutes before using a flat spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- I find 14 minutes in my oven is perfect but all ovens vary. Test one or two first, take them out, let them cool for at least 10 minutes before breaking open to see if the inside is cooked through as they will continue to carry-on cook while they’re still hot.
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
Have you tried this recipe?Don’t forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.
Nutrition Facts
Black Forest Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 243
Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 8g50%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat 3g
Cholesterol 28mg9%
Sodium 146mg6%
Potassium 163mg5%
Carbohydrates 34g11%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 22g24%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 200IU4%
Vitamin C 0.1mg0%
Calcium 55mg6%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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