Chocolate Cherry Squares
RECIPE IDEA: CHOCOLATE CHERRY SQUARES
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Hi. It’s Lois in the kitchen at Recipe Idea Shop, telling you about Chocolate Cherry Squares, which I have been making annually since the 1980s. With the holidays just around the corner, I thought I would post some holiday recipes. Chocolate Cherry Squares are one of my daughter Erin’s favorite Christmas cookies.
“Funny story” about these cookies. One year I mailed Erin a box of these cookies along with several other chocolate cookies and candies. Her roommate put the box under the tree without opening the outer box, never thinking it might contain food.
Their two dogs got into the package in the middle of the night, eating most of the goodies. (Did you know dogs can die from eating chocolate?) It took two emergency trips to the vet and cost her about $1,000 to save their lives, and she didn’t get one cookie from the batch!
A pan of Chocolate Cherry Squares before plating.
Even though Erin no longer has any pets, since then, I send any edible goodies to Erin’s office.
Chocolate Cherry Squares, ready for guests.
A couple of people at my office are gluten intolerant (or maybe they are allergic to gluten), so I’ve been learning about how to eliminate gluten. Today I tried making a small pan of gluten free cookies using Garbanzo and Fava Bean flour. The batter didn’t taste as sweet as normal so after I put them in the pan, I sprinkled turbinado sugar over the top before I baked it. Don and I both thought they were very tasty. However, if you want to make them gluten free, I suggest you use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix, which I have done many times and it works well. You can use it in the same proportions as regular flour and it has great flavor and texture. (The batter, however, tastes a little bitter before you bake it, so skip licking the spoon.)
Read on for recipe and nutrition…
- [b]Cookie[/b]:
- 1 cup sifted flour (for gluten free, substitute [url href=”https://amzn.to/1PwoWLu” target=”_blank”]Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix[/url])
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
- [b]Topping[/b]:
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 jar of maraschino cherries (10-ounce jar), each cherry cut in half
- crushed nuts (optional)
- Combine first three cookie ingredients.
- Cut in butter.
- Shape into a ball.
- Press into an 8″ x 8″ pan.
- Bake at 350F degrees for 20 minutes.
- The cookies will be just slightly brown when they are done.
- Cut into 2″ squares [b]while still warm[/b] (very important).
- Melt chocolate chips.
- Top each cookie square with a dab of melted chocolate.
- Put 1/2 a cherry on top of each cookie.
- With a teaspoon, dab more chocolate over the cherry.
- Sprinkle with crushed nuts.
- Set aside until chocolate is firm.
- If you double the recipe, use a 9″ x 13″ pan. For a cookie sheet, multiply the recipe by four.
Chocolate Cherry Squares Nutrition Label. Each serving is one cookie.