Vanilla and cherry are like the peanut butter and jelly of sweets if you ask me — they met way back at the soda fountain and I’ll forever and always be a fan. But if I had to choose my absolute favorite way of all to eat the flavors? Yup, it’d be these Vanilla Cherry Chocolate Cookies everytime.
This cookie is as easy to make as it comes! Here we make it a scoop cookie but you could also form it into a log, freeze it, and then slice-and-bake it anytime! And the base cookie can be altered to your liking so experiment with flavor combinations like lemon zest and cardamom, cinnamon and pecans, or, as we made them here with vanilla and cherry!
Go stock up on all your cooking essentials then head into the kitchen, make this, and share it with us by tagging @saltandwind and #swsociety on social!
Vanilla Cherry Chocolate Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter ( 2 sticks) at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup finely chopped dried sweet cherries
- Turbinado or sanding sugar for garnish
Instructions
- Mix The Dry Ingredients: Heat oven to 350°F and arrange racks in upper and lower third. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and whisk to break up any lumps and aerate; set aside.
- Cream The Butter: Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugars and beat on medium speed until mixture looks airy, fluffy, and lighter in color, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla then eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition.
- Mix In The Chocolate And Cherries: Turn off mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until just incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in the chocolate and cherries.
- Scoop Out The Dough: Scoop the dough by rounded tablespoons and arrange on two parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving at least 1/2-inch between cookies. (You should have about 12 to 15 cookies per sheet.) Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of the turbinado or sanding sugar.
- Bake The Cookies: Place two sheets in oven and bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until undersides are golden brown, tops are set and slightly golden, about 14 minutes total. Remove cookies to a cooling rack and repeat to bake off remaining dough.
