Chocolate Cherry Thumbprints Food

CHOCOLATE-COVERED CHERRY THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening, brown sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, until easy to handle, 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-1/4-in. balls. In a shallow bowl, whisk egg white until foamy. Place almonds in a separate shallow bowl. Dip balls in egg white; roll in almonds., Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press a deep indentation in center of each with your thumb. Bake until edges are light brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks., In a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, cherry juice, butter and milk until smooth. Fill each cookie with 1/4 tsp. filling; top with 1 cherry. Drizzle with candy coating. Let stand until set.

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour and cocoa; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Shape into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Press a deep indentation in center of each with the end of a wooden spoon handle. Bake 7-9 minutes or until firm. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., For filling, in a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, butter and cherry juice. Fill each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon filling. Top each with a cherry. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cookies. Let stand until set.

CHOCOLATE-COVERED CHERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside.
• Place the cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.
• Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack while you prepare the glaze.
• For the glaze, place the sugar, butter, and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. When the chips have melted and the glaze is smooth, pour it over the warm cake so it covers the entire surface. The glaze will be thin but will firm up. Cool the cake for 20 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.
• Store this cake, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze the cake, wrapped in foil, for up to 6months. Thaw the cake overnight on the counter before serving.

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• MICROWAVE 1 cup morsels in small, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100 percent) power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Combine oats, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
• BEAT sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until smooth. Beat in melted chocolate. Stir in oat mixture. Cover; chill dough for 1 hour.
• SHAPE dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Press deep centers with thumb. Place maraschino cherry into each center.
• BAKE in preheated 350 degrees F. oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Melt remaining morsels; drizzle over cookies.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Cut butter into pats and beat with electric mixer until creamy, then add sugar.
• 2. While butter is mixing drain cherries and cut each in half.
• 3. Beat sugar and butter till blended then add eggs and vanilla. Beat till smooth.
• 4. Mix in dry ingredients.
• 5. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in 30 second intervals at half power in a glass bowl in the microwave till smooth and creamy.
• 6. Add melted chocolate to cookie dough and mix well.
• 7. Using a small cookie scoop make evenly sized cookies and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
• 8. Using your thumb make an impression and fill with half a cherry.
• 9. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and allow to cool on the cookie sheet before transferring to wax paper.
• 10. When cookies cool, melt remaining cup of chocolate chips in the microwave then transfer to a pastry bag and drizzle onto each cookie.