Monday 23 January 2023

Chocolate And Sour Cherry Cookies

I am a big fan of dark chocolate, and dried sour cherries, and marzipan so this was a no-brainer choice from The Year of Miracles by Ella Risbridger.  I've read her previous cookbook Midnight Chicken, which is about her partner dying of cancer (and recipes). 

This book starts with: 'This is a story about grief.'  But it is wonderfully uplifting, and full of memories - and food, and wonderful food drawings!  I loved it.  I think it should more rightly be called a memoir with recipes - which is a fave genre for me.  

She also writes novels and children's books (I love children's books), and is just a bit of a marvel, really.  I remember that Marian Keyes also wrote a baking cookbook to write herself out of grief and mental health issues.  All that love going into food is a marvellous restorative to our spirits.  So bake, my friends!  It is a wonderfully soothing thing to do.



so fudgy, so chocolatey, so cherryful ...


Makes 18 cookies: (see Notes)

ingredients:

200g./7 oz butter 

300g./10.5 oz dark soft brown sugar

100g./3.5 oz dark chocolate  (I suggest Lindt)

50g./1.8 oz marzipan  (see Notes)

1 large egg plus an extra yolk

200g./7 oz plain flour

50g./1.8 oz unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

50g./1.8 oz dried sour cherries

smoked sea salt flakes


Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 180C/356F

Melt the butter over a medium-low heat till it starts to foam, and nearly catch on the base (says Ella), turns brown and has a strong smell  - it can take from 5-8 minutes  (see Notes)

Beat the butter and sugar together till well combined - I used electric hand beaters tho' Ella says to use a stand mixer (Ella, I don't have one!)

Chop your chocolate and marzipan into all sorts of crazy chunks - big, small, slivers, whatever you fancy ...

Add your egg and egg yolk into the butter/sugar mixture, and beat some more

In goes the flour, cocoa and bi-carb and yes, you beat well again

Now gently fold in your chocolate, marzipan and sour cherries

Grab a lined baking tray and a dessertspoon, and spoon on no more than 6 cookies at a time onto your tray - Ella is vehement that you put only 6, as they 'must not join up!'

Sprinkle them with sea salt flakes and bake for 9 minutes - she is also adamant and vehement that you bake them for this time, tho' she does suggest giving them one minute more or less on your next batch if they are not to your liking

I baked 2 trays at once, then the remaining ones, as my tiny, wee oven only holds 2 trays at a time

Let them cool on a wire rack, and don't worry that they appear underdone - Ella swears they are okay. and indeed they are!  They firm up a bit as they cool, tho' they are still tender and fudgy and so very delightful to inhale


Notes:

Ella says this recipe makes 24, but I made 18 medium-sized cookies.  Go with my bigger ones, I say :=)  But you do you

I bought dark-chocolate-covered marzipan from the supermarket.  Delicious!

Burnt butter was something new to me!  Maybe I've made it once in my life many moons ago, but I don't remember.  So basically, I had to keep browning it for longer than I expected!  It really foams up, and goes dark brown, just the way it should


ingredients gathered

the butter starts to foam

going brown with brown specks on the bottom of the pan

very golden-browny brown

beating in the sugar and eggs

folding in the chocolate and marzipan after the flour, cocoa and bi-carb

this is one heck of a stiff batter, my friends

ready to eat after baking for 9 mins. at 180C/356F

so fudgy and delicious

eat up!

her fabulous cookbook cum memoir


Sherry M.

53 comments:

  1. I like giant cookies...so might just make 12 LOL:.and fudge chocolate cookies are the best!

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    1. yes she must have made very small ones. she did say to use a teaspoon to put them on the trays but i liked a dessertspoon!

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  2. These look absolutely delicious. I love cherry and chocolate so I will be making these. My mom got me started on the combo when I was a child. She made her chocolate chip cookies with diced cherries.

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    1. such a good combo! Diced fresh cherries? interesting...

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  3. What’s not to like about these cookies? Yummy!

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  4. I've been asked to brown butter in the last two cookie recipes I tried, and in both of these I thought the browned butter added a lot to the flavor. I wasn't really sure how brown to get the butter, so thank you for your photos and information about the browning.

    I shall look for this book. I liked Midnight Chicken, too.

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    1. This is the first time I've had to brown butter for a recipe (I think) so it was a bit scary! So yes it has to go really brown. I so enjoyed this book.

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  5. I enjoyed both of those books, most especially her Year of Miracles. I hope she writes another. I hadn't realized that she is also a poet and has written children's or young adult books. These cookies look decadent and delicious, what a wonderful classic combination.

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    1. yes it is a fab book. Great cookies (she calls them that so I will too tho normally I'd say biscuits).

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  6. Bake! Unless baking makes you crazy! But these cookies are outstanding. Love the ingredients!

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  7. Burnt butter is my secret weapon in the kitchen. It makes everything taste better! Sounds like a lovely book!

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  8. My mom would love these! They do look very good.
    from Tandy I Lavender and Lime https://tandysinclair.com

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    1. love chcolate and cherries! Cherry Ripes are my fave choc bar here.

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  9. These were delicious! You must make them. It is hard being Mr P.

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  10. I love the sound of these cookies (with the exception of marzipan - a freak in my family haha)! Baking and cooking sounds a perfect resource for healing xxx

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    1. i didn't like marzipan in my younger days but now i adore it!

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  11. Yum, this is one of my favorite combinations! I'd definitely stop by for tea and conversation, if invited :-)
    Amalia
    xo

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  12. I love chocolate and cherries. A bowl of chocolate chips mixed with dried cherries is great just by itself, no cookie around it. I'm sure I would love those!

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Add some dark choc coated marzipan and I'm happy!

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  13. I love to read cookbooks with stories. I will be looking for this one. Yes, cooking is very therapeutic especially after sustaining a life changing event. Bernadette, https://newclassicrecipe.com

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  14. Those cookies look rich and decadent and I can only imagine how good the combination of sour cherries and chocolate taste. That cookbook looks interesting.

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  15. Don't these look tasty! Chocolate and cherries are a match made in heaven.

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  16. Ooo these decadent, fudgy, and brownie-like cookies look terrific! And the addition of sour cherries and sweet marzipan must work so well with these ultra chocolately and rich cookies!

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  17. they were a hit in our neighbourhood :=)

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  18. I've never used marzipan in biscuits, these look great. I like the sound of the book too. Perhaps it's in our local library. I have to remind myself to go looking for your posts Sherry, still not appearing on my email. I find baking very restorative, and yes to burnt butter, a secret ingredient.

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    1. i loooove marzipan; first time I've cooked with it here. Darn I must get on to Follow.it soon. I am a burnt butter novice!

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  19. Agree with Marian Keyes, cooking and baking for me is a stress release and that cookies looks amazing, I actually wanna grab it off my screen

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    1. Absolutely Raymund. I love to cook to work out some stress!

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  20. Hey - there's nothing wrong with a bigger cookie! These sound delicious with the cherries included. And you make a good point about food - it's therapeutic and it connects people across time and space. After all, you're half a world away from me, but we are still foodie friends! :-)

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    1. yes indeedy. oh we are that! it's so lovely to have foodie friends from afar :)

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  21. Baking is a great thing to do to relieve the stress of every day life. After a busy week's work I often look forward to my weekends just shutting myself in the kitchen! These cookies look delicious Sherry. Definitely something I would bake!

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  22. Oh my God, those cookies look really, really good.

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  23. Chocolate and cherries = delicious cookies :)

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  24. Yum! These look delish! Chocolate and cherry is always a winning combination. This post reminded me that I have Midnight Kitchen on my bookshelf, I must revisit it and remind myself of all the deliciousness!

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    1. I think this book is probably better than Midnight Chicken but still - it was good.

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  25. These look like a great find! Love all the ingredients used. I make my own marzipan, so this will be another good way of using it. :)

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  26. In our family we both cook but my wife is the baker. It's probably better for us that she doesn't do it too often! Actually I should take that back, because every morning we have a muffin or some other treat with coffee. It's almost a ritual!

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    1. i love to bake but it ain't good for the waistline :)

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  27. These are killer, Sherry - not only the chocolate, cherries, and marzipan - but the brown butter! Yum!

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