This cherry chocolate crinkle cookies recipe is perfect for anyone who loves the combination of cherry and chocolate! These adorable red and white cookies are super chewy. A great addition to your Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, or Christmas treat rotation!
I love trying new cookies recipes with my mom, especially around the holidays! This chocolate cherry crinkle cookies recipe is adapted from a cookie trial we did a few years ago.
The vivid red makes these crinkle cookies a perfect cookie to add to a holiday cookie tray, an adorable option for Valentine’s Day, and a fun option for 4th of July! But cherry chocolate is a combination that is a winner anytime of year.
This cherry chocolate cookie recipe is also a bit of a homage to many of the men in my life. Both of my grandpas loved cherry chocolate. My mom remembers my grandma making my grandpa a cherry chocolate cake every single year for his birthday. In honor of what would have been his 100th birthday this past summer, all of my aunties got together and enjoyed a cherry chocolate cake in his honor (how cute is that?!). My other grandpa loved specialty chocolate dipped cherries, which my family would make a point of bringing to him every year at Christmastime. And my husband loves everything cherry chocolate too, which began with a love for bordeaux cherry ice cream growing up!
If you, or someone you love, is a fan of chocolate cherry desserts, this is a must-try cookie recipe.
TELL ME ABOUT THIS RECIPE
Level of difficulty: Easy.
Flavor: Cherry and chocolate.
Time: You’ll need about 1 hour and 45 minutes to make these chocolate cherry crinkle cookies. This includes prep time, a 30-minute chill-time, and baking your chocolate cookies 1 tray at a time.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar, divided (part goes into the dough, part for rolling)
Large egg
Cherry jam or preserves
Vanilla extract
Almond extract
Red food coloring
Semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks, roughly chopped
Dried cherries, roughly chopped
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Salt
Powdered Sugar aka confectioners’ sugar (for rolling)
OVERVIEW: HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHERRY CRINKLE COOKIES
- Make the cherry chocolate cookie dough.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Beat in the egg, jam, vanilla extract, almond extract, and red food coloring
- Gradually add in the the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined and a dough is formed
- Stir in the chocolate and dried cherries until evenly distributed throughout the dough
- Cover bowl with plastic-wrap and place into the refrigerator to chill
- Chill. Chill the dough for these cherry chocolate chip cookies for at least 30 minutes. The dough can also be chilled overnight if that is best for your schedule
- Scoop into balls, dip in sugars, and bake.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper
- Scoop dough into 1 tablespoon-sized portions and roll into a ball. Dip each ball first into granulated sugar to coat, and then into powdered sugar to coat. Shake off any excess powdered sugar
- Place dough balls 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cracked and just dry on top
- NOTE: If cookie multiple trays of cookies at one time, rotate the trays between racks halfway through baking
- Cool. Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
- Store. Store cooled cookies in an air-tight container.
See a short story series on this awesome crinkle cookie recipe here!
EXPERT TIPS
Do not over bake your cherry chocolate crinkle cookies. These cookies are at their best when they are JUST baked and chewy. If your cookies have “cracked” and the top looks dry (not super shiny), give them a little poke. If the cookies don’t sink in a lot, they are ready to come out.
Midwest chilling tip: embrace and use the cold winter weather! If you live in a place that is cold when you make this soft chocolate cookie recipe, you can chill your dough outside! Find a flat surface, ensure your dough is covered well, and let mother nature chill your dough for you.
Use a cookie scoop to get all of your cookies to be the same size. While not a necessity, a cookie scoop is a super helpful tool that I use a lot in my kitchen. This small cookie scoop is the perfect size for these chocolate cherry cookies. For larger cookie lovers, a medium cookie scoop or large cookie scoop may be preferred. If you can’t decide which size to get, they do have a 3-pack of cookie scoops so you can try them all!
LOVE THIS RECIPE? YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Chocolate Cherry Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 C unsalted butter
- 1 + 1/4 C granulated sugar divided (part goes into the dough, part for rolling)
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 C cherry jam or preserves
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp red food coloring
- 3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks roughly chopped
- 1/2 C dried cherries roughly chopped
- 1 + 3/4 C all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 C powdered Sugar aka confectioners’ sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream together the butter and 3/4 C of the granulated sugar until light and fluffy
- Beat in the egg, jam, vanilla extract, almond extract, and red food coloring
- Gradually add in the the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined and a dough is formed
- Stir in the chocolate and dried cherries until evenly distributed throughout the dough
- Cover bowl with plastic-wrap and place into the refrigerator to chill
- Chill the dough for these cherry chocolate chip cookies for at least 30 minutes. The dough can also be chilled overnight if that is best for your schedule
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper
- Scoop dough into 1 tablespoon-sized portions and roll into a ball. Dip each ball first into granulated sugar to coat, and then into powdered sugar to coat. Shake off any excess powdered sugar
- Place dough balls 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cracked and just dry on top*
- Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
- Store. Store cooled cookies in an air-tight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Food Network’s Christmas Baking Magazine, published December 2020
I was just in Michigan…several places around Lake Michigan are famous for their cherries and cherry jam. Those items are perfect for this cookie…unique flavor and they are so pretty…pink! Sure to be hit at your next cookie exchange.
How fun!! Michigan cherries are wonderful, and I’m sure perfect for these too. So glad you enjoyed them!
The only downside to this cookie recipe is that from now on, every single other cookie you ever eat won’t measure up to this one. This might be my all-time favorite cookie, no joke.
oh my goodness, I’m so glad to hear this is your new favorite!!