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Black forest cookies combine the flavors of chocolate and cherry into a soft, chewy cookie!
They are easy to make, only 20 minutes from start to finish. Plus no chilling of the dough is needed.
I wasn’t prepared for how popular our maraschino cherry chocolate chip cookies were going to be!
These black forest cookies are like the chocolatey twin of our pink maraschino cookies!
I’m a chocolate fan through and through, so I knew I wanted to make a chocolate cookie base that incorporated the same flavors – chocolate and maraschino cherries!
Black Forest Cookies
The combination of maraschino cherries and chocolate chips reminds me of delicious cherry cordial ice cream. It’s a favorite all year round!
The cherry flavor in these cookies is on point. We add these cookies to our cookie trays during the holidays. And we love gifting this easy recipe for valentine’s day.
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions for making Black Forest Cookies.
- unsalted butter – Let the butter come to room temperature.
- brown sugar – I recommend using light brown sugar for this recipe.
- large egg
- vanilla extract
- all purpose flour
- unsweetened natural cocoa powder – you can also use dutch processed cocoa
- baking soda
- salt
- maraschino cherries – Well drained & finely chopped.
- semi-sweet chocolate chips – You can substitute or dark, milk or white chocolate chips.
How to Make Black Forest Cookies
Beat together. In a large bowl beat the softened butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer for 1 minute, or until combined. Add in the egg and extract, beat again.
Add dry ingredients. In separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing by hand with a spatula.
Add-ins. Add in the finely chopped cherries and chocolate chips, mix by hand until combined. The batter will be thick.
Scoop. Use a cookie scoop to drop dough balls onto a silicone lined baking sheet or parchment paper. Press additional cherries and chocolate chips into the outside of the dough balls.
Bake for 13-15 minutes. Be sure not to over bake the cookies.
Time Required
- 10 minutes to make the cookie dough
- 13-15 minutes to bake the cookies
- 15 minutes to cool the cookies
How to properly measure flour
Properly measuring flour in any baked good recipe is very crucial. This method, or weighing the flour, is the proper and accurate way to measure flour.
- Whisk the flour
- Spoon flour into the measuring cup
- Use a butter knife to level it off
Do not pack the flour down into the measuring cup.
Do not stick the measuring cup into the flour bag and scoop it out. This will result in too much flour in the recipe, making it dry.
Can this recipe be frozen?
Black forest cookies freeze beautifully! Wrap them in individual portions with plastic wrap or place them in an airtight container or freezer bag with parchment between the layers to keep them from sticking.
Freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
Tips for Success
Properly measure the all purpose flour using the spoon and sweep method.
Be sure to drain the cherries well. Once you drained off the juice, put the cherries on a few paper towels and let the extra maraschino cherry juice soak up.
Once the cherries have been drained, finely chop them.
If you want the tops of your cookies to look loaded with cherries & chocolate chips like the ones you see in the photos, be sure to add additional cherries and chocolate chips to the outside of the dough balls before baking the cookies.
These are also a great black forest cherry cookie to make for Christmas!
FAQs
The best way to bake cookies is on a cookie sheet that’s lined with a silicone baking mat. Also, bake cookies in the middle of your oven, one tray at a time.
I’ve also made this recipe with gluten free flour with awesome results! I recommend King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. Use it as a one for one substitute for regular flour.
Yes. The texture will be a little different if you use dried cherries – the maraschino cherries are more juicy and soft compared to the dried cherries.
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Black Forest Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ stick unsalted butter, softened, 1/4 cup
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup drained & finely chopped maraschino cherries, plus extra for garnish
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus extra for garnish
- To top the cookies: additional chopped maraschino cherries and chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- In a mixing bowl beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer for 1 minute, or until combined. Add in the egg and vanilla extract, beat again.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing by hand with a spatula. The batter will be thick.
- Drain and finely chop the maraschino cherries. Be sure to pat the cherries to absorb as much excess liquid as possible. Add in the chopped cherries and chocolate chips, mixing with a spatula until combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop dough balls onto a silicone lined baking sheet. Press additional maraschino cherry pieces and chocolate chips all around the outside of the dough balls.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool to the touch on the baking sheet (about 15 minutes) then move them to a cooling rack.
Small note: This mixture came out really dry for me if this happens to you just add abit of the cherry juice until you get the right cookie dough consistency.
Other than that- black forest cake is my favorite cake to eat so when I found these cookies i was really excited!
They do not disappoint! My co-workers can’t get enough!
Followed the recipe exactly as written. Was delicious. My family thoroughly enjoyed them.
So so happy to hear that!
Can this be prepared ahead of time? How long will they last? Can they be frozen and later thawed?
Hi Patricia! When you mean prepared ahead of time, do you mean baked in advance and how long will they last on the counter? I’ll do my best to give you a few scenarios:
1. You could make the dough 3 days in advance and wrap it in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. When ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge, place it in a bowl and allow it to sit for 1 hour to warm up, then bake.
2. You could pre-bake the cookies and freeze them. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock bag inside the freezer. To thaw, place the bag in the fridge or on the counter overnight.
I made these and the dough was very dry. I had a hard time making them into dough balls. They didn’t flatten either when they baked. I might try again and add some cherry juice as recommended above or even include more butter or shortening. 1/4 cup isn’t very much.
Hi Linda! How did you measure the flour? This recipe only makes 1 dozen cookies so 1/4 cup butter is appropriate. The dough is thick!
Linda,
I had the exact same experience (and yes, I know how to measure flour). I think they could definitely benefit from more butter. The taste is good, but they are incredibly dry.
Hi Mandie! How long did you bake them for?
From the video it looks like you used 1 whole stick of butter instead of the 1/2 stick that the recipe calls for.
Hi Ethoia! The recipe is correct, it’s 1/2 stick. After I tested the recipe additional times, the results were better with 1/2 stick than 1 whole stick! Otherwise, the video is still correct!
This cookies are delish… I enjoy them 💗💗 I use ordinary butter instead of unsalted so I didn’t add the salt. Its chewy and chocolaty… Thanks for the recipe 😘
The batter was dust. I added about half a cup of almond milk and it turned out fine.
Can I half the ingredients if I only want 6 cookies would it work?
Amazing! From the photos and description I knew this was something I had to make. Used gluten free flour and nuttelex to make them gluten and dairy free with chopped Whittaker’s almond dark chocolate and cherries still with the juice on after reading in the earlier comments they could come out dry – they are perfect <3 Thank you so much for sharing! Definitely will be making again
When you give the brown sugar measurement, do you mean for it to be packed? My dough is also very dry and thick, and I’m wondering if it’s because I always assume brown sugar should be packed.
Yes, brown sugar measurements are always packed.
Can I freeze the dough? I prefer fresh baked cookies and would like to prep the dough, then bake in batches when I want them.
Yes, you can assemble into dough balls and freeze for later! The bake time might be a minute or two longer.
Delicious!!! The recipe says 1/4 c butter, I used 1/2 c, perfection and yummy. I also doubled the amount of cherries used..