No, not my own bad breakup! I got a terrible phone call yesterday from one of my closest friends informing me her relationship had ended and after consoling her, spent the rest of the day feeling mopey and blue thinking about her.  Long distance phone consoling just isn’t good enough for me, so I knew getting a care package together tout de suite was on the agenda for this week.

I knew cookies, specifically chocolate cookies, were on the docket.  And since I like to cook with a mood in mind, I was thinking bittersweet, sour and indulgent when these popped into my head, and that’s exactly what they are.  Incredibly, incredibly rich and fudgy, with the tart dried cherries and rich dark dough, they’re indulgent enough to make you forget your problems but not too sweet so you can hold onto that resentment a little while longer (if you so choose).

Be sure to use dried sour cherries here.  Using plain dried cherries would work fine, I’m sure, but the sweetness would probably be overwhelming.  You can find dried sour cherries in the bulk bins of your fancier grocery stores (Whole Foods, in my case), although I’d love to try this recipe with fresh sour cherries next time.  If you’re lucky enough that you can share these in person, the idea of sandwiching French vanilla or coffee ice cream between them sounds so over-the-top awesome I can’t even fathom, but for me, I just get to mail them and hope they ease the pain.

Double Dark Chocolate Sour Cherry Cookies (a.k.a. “Bad Breakups”)

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Based on the recipe in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder (the good stuff – don’t skimp here!)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (again, get the good stuff here)
• 1 ¼ cups dried sour cherries, roughly chopped

Directions

1.)    In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together and then set aside.

2.)    In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a  paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated and brown sugars for a few minutes on medium speed until fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until mixed. While the mixer is running on low, slowly add the flour in 3 parts, mixing until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

3.)   Toss the chocolate chips and cherries into the bowl and beat until they’re just incorporated.  Your mixer may freak out a bit here – I literally had to hold my down because it had to work hard to beat through the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or until firm.

4.)    When ready, divide the dough in half and roll out into 4 12-inch logs.  The easiest way to do this since the dough is very stiff is to lay them out on sheets of plastic wrap and roll them up, then roll them back and forth until they form logs. Refrigerate at least another hour or until ready to bake.

5.)    Preheat oven to 350° and line as many baking sheets as you have with parchment paper.  Slice the logs into 1-inch slices and place cookies 1 ½ inches apart on baking sheets – they will expand quite a bit. Slicing can be a bit tricky since the cherries are sticky and large, but just form and flatten the disks into cookie shapes if they don’t look perfect.

6.)    Bake about 10 minutes or until cookies are just baked. Do not over-bake, you want them underdone versus overdone here so they stay nice and fudge-y.

7.)    Serve with a huge glass of milk and plenty of hugs.

Note:  Dough can be frozen for up to a month in log form if wrapped well in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil.

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