I cannot tell a lie. I baked the cherry chocolate chip coffee cookies. I promise I did not chop down a cherry tree to make these cookies. I used dried tart cherries from the grocery store. However, I did steal the last cup of coffee to make them.
The Story
Early in our marriage Ken and I made a pact not to lie to each other, especially about important things like food. We promised that if either of us made something the other didn’t like, we would tell each other. Otherwise, you risk the person making it again because he or she thought you liked it.
The pact gets harder when you have to admit you didn’t like something you made yourself. It is best to admit quickly you made a mistake. Ken learned this lesson the hard way when making Lawry’s seasoned fries. He overdid it with the seasoning, and I told him so. I refused to eat them. He refused to admit his mistake, and he ate them all himself pretending they were fine. I knew the truth though because these seasoned fries never again appeared in his cooking rotation in the years since that incident.
So what did I make that Ken didn’t like? It was chocolate cherry coffee. I was on a flavored coffee kick, and I bought some chocolate cherry flavored coffee beans. However, the coffee did not taste like chocolate or cherries. Instead it tasted like grass. Ken didn’t hear the “g” and “r” part of “grass” when I declared how it tasted, but he quickly agreed it tasted poorly. I have not purchased chocolate cherry flavored coffee beans since.
However, I still like the flavors of cherry, chocolate and coffee. So I am making cherry chocolate chip coffee cookies. Unlike the coffee, Ken seems to like these cookies. They keep disappearing from the cookie container anyway.
The Moral of the Story
It’s better to tell the truth than to eat something you do not love.
About the Recipe
This is a “healthier” version of the Chocolate Cherry Chip Cookies I made for my dad’s birthday. I say it is healthier because I used real dried tart cherries instead of candy cherry chips. I also added pecans and left out the chocolate pudding. I kept the chocolate chips and the coffee parts of the original recipe though.
The Cast of Characters
Dried tart cherries, pecans and chocolate chips are the stars. Coffee plays a key supporting role.
The Play-by-Play
In a saucepan, heat the shortening, sugar and coffee until the shortening is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Then set aside to cool.
While the coffee mixture is cooling, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, tapioca, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Once the coffee mixture is cool, stir in the vanilla.
Then stir the coffee mixture into the flour mixture.
Add the cherries, chocolate chips and pecans.
Stir to combine.
Scoop the dough into tablespoons onto the baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Let rest on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes.
Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool complete.
Once cool enough to eat, enjoy with a cup of good coffee.
The Footnotes
- About the coffee: Use good coffee. If the coffee tastes gross, so will your cookies. Also, don’t use a pre-flavored coffee. It will compete with the chocolate, cherry and pecan flavors already in the cookie. I used a plain, dark French roast.
- About the tapioca: This idea was inspired by a lesson I learned when making my Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chip Cookie. In that recipe, I discovered adding instant pudding mix to your cookie dough helps prevent your cookies from going flat. In this cookie variation, I added some dried, ground tapioca pearls instead, and I thought the cookies had an even better shape than when using instant pudding mixes. To grind the tapioca, I used a cleaned out coffee grinder.
The Recipe: Cherry Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies
Adapted from Betty Crocker’s ”Cooky Book”
Baking Time:
12 minutes
Servings:
3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ground tapioca pudding pearls
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions:
Before you begin, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan on the stovetop, combine the coffee, sugar and shortening. Heat until the shortening is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool for at least 10 minutes.
- While the coffee mixture cools, in a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground tapioca pearls, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Once the coffee mixture is cool, add the vanilla to the saucepan.
- Pour the coffee mixture over the flour mixture. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the dried cherries, chocolate chips and pecans.
- Spoon the cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet, and bake for 12 minutes.
- Let the cookies rest on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
