Michigan Treasure Cookies

A coworker brought some of these in to work last December, and after eating one, I had to resist the urge to devour the entire plate. I asked her for the recipe and she was only too obliged and flattered to share it.

There's even a bill submitted to make this the official State Cookie. Hey, now there's one actually constructive thing our state legislature could do.

These are really nice. A good blast of deep dark chocolate, then the chewy tangy cherry kicks in.

1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter (yep, that's 2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks
1 1/2 cups dried cherries
additional granulated sugar for coating

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

Beat egg and vanilla into the sugar mixture until well blended. Slowly mix in the flour mixture, making sure to scrape the bowl well. Fold in chocolate chunks and cherries. Cover and refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Roll chilled dough into walnut-sized balls, and roll balls in small bowl of granulated sugar. Space 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press balls lightly with bottom of glass to gently flatten.

Bake 13 to 15 minutes until cookies are set. Cool for about 5 minutes on cookie sheets before moving to wire rack to completely cool.

Notes: I busted up a big block of Callebaut bittersweet chocolate for the chunks. And I used (as always) parchment paper.

These did not work well the first time I made them: I made the dough ahead of time, froze it, and then let it sit out at room temperature a long time to thaw before baking. They spread out into flat, thin, fragile unattractive things. I guess sometimes it doesn't pay to go nuts and do too much ahead.