Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are HUGE. I mean, seriously. Okay, not as huge as a cookie cake, but that’s like a whole ‘nother thing. That you get at the mall. That’s covered in icing and probably they misspelled your name. In fact, cookie cakes SUCK compared to these giant cherry chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are perfect.

cherry chocolate chip cookies

This recipe comes from my pal Adam, who adapted from Cook’s Illustrated. If you wanted more traditional chocolate chip cookies, you could swap the dried cherries for toasted pecans. Melting the butter in this recipe gives a soft, chewy cookie with a crisp surface area so you get the best of both cookie worlds. These are great with coffee or milk. You will love them. Pinky swear.

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Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.9 from 25 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons butter (3/4 cup)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla/bourbon/dark rum (if you run out of vanilla)
  • 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
  • 1 cup dried cherries

Instructions

  1. Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside.
  2. Melt butter in the microwave and let cool. For a more sophisticated cookie, melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Melt it, then continue to cook it, stirring often, for about 5-8 minutes or until golden. You just made browned butter! Cool.
  3. Beat together sugars with cooled liquid butter. Add egg and yolk and vanilla.
  4. Mix in the dry ingredients until well combined. Stir in chocolate and cherries.
  5. Let dough sit for 10-30 minutes while your oven preheats to 325ºF.
  6. Line two sheets with parchment and use a 1/4 cup measure to portion batter. Space 2 inches apart. You will probably only fit 6 to a sheet.
  7. Bake 15 minutes.
  8. They will still be soft. Allow to cool completely on cookie sheets, and they will firm up. Store in airtight containers.

Notes

Try cherry flavored dried cranberries for a lower-cost alternative to expensive dried cherries!

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74 Comments

  1. Scott on August 6, 2013 at 12:09 pm

    Speaking of cookie cake recipes, um, where’s the cookie cake recipe? 🙂

    • Hilah on August 7, 2013 at 10:00 am

      I should do one of those, right, Scott?!

      • Scott on August 8, 2013 at 9:54 am

        YES YES YES!!!

  2. larry kimball on August 6, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    I have been using the Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. So here’s the good part: I opened your website page for your cookies, and my wife shouted “OMG, what are those?” When I told her they had dried cherries as an ingredient, she began salivating and started to go into an Ecstatic Crashing Down Splendid Coma. So I figgered I better get me some dried cherries (I have all the other ingredients) and git my butt in gear. When we wake up, I will let you know how i turned out. #nailonthehead






    • Hilah on August 7, 2013 at 10:00 am

      Ahahaha! I hope they were as satisfying as all that! And I hope you both recover from your comas. 🙂

  3. Sara on August 7, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    I read this recipe yesterday, and have been thinking about it for the last 24 hours. Since my hunnie has to work all weekend, I think I might fill my Saturday morning with this recipe. Can’t wait to try and thanks for the post Hilah.

    • Hilah on August 8, 2013 at 7:49 am

      That sounds like a really fun way to spend a Saturday morning, Sara! Your hunnie will be happy, too, I’m sure. Enjoy! 🙂

  4. joanna on August 7, 2013 at 8:09 pm

    about to make these for my classmates tomorrow…. really excited! I felt fancy buying dried cherries 🙂

    thanks for sharing <33

    • Hilah on August 8, 2013 at 7:49 am

      Good for you, Joanna! 🙂 I’m sure your classmates will love these.

      • joanna on August 8, 2013 at 7:13 pm

        hey hilah!

        My classs only has 7 other people and I brought in 15 cookies (had to taste test the 16th one last night :P) and they finished them all! It was a hit.

        thanks so much again!

        • Hilah on August 10, 2013 at 10:02 am

          Yay! So glad to hear that!

  5. David on August 8, 2013 at 12:08 am

    It’s 1am, and I just made these. I replaced the cherries (which I didn’t have) with more chocolate chips, and I added extra bourbon. I’m in serious danger of eating all of them now.






    • Hilah on August 8, 2013 at 7:46 am

      I hope you made it out alive, David! And I hope you have at least one cookie left this morning. 😉

      • David on August 8, 2013 at 8:00 pm

        I just made more, with half chocolate chips and half cherries/toasted pecans (2/3 of a cup cherries, 1/3 crushed pecans). I made them slightly smaller so there were 8 to each sheet and used about 5tsp of bourbon (because the more the merrier) I had both sheets in the oven at the same time and ended up baking them for around 20 minutes. So good!






        • Hilah on August 10, 2013 at 10:02 am

          NOW I WANT COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST. And bourbon.
          Just kidding! 😉

  6. Morgan on August 9, 2013 at 8:10 am

    I’ve never really enjoyed baking cookies. Mostly because creaming butter, in my opinion, is a bunch of bullshit. The urge to bake cookies is a random one, and butter is not some random food that you can immediately take out of the fridge and start beating with a mixer. Basically what I’m trying to say is I never remember to let the butter soften before I make cookies and it always ends up in a giant butter blob in between the beaters.

    But that brown butter has changed my life. I’ve used brown butter in cake icing, but I’d never really considered it for cookie dough; I figured you had to use softened butter for texture-al purposes. This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. The cookies come out with the most perfect chewy/crunchy texture and the dough is easy to work with, too.

    Thanks for posting this recipe, and saving me from the butter creaming bullshit.






    • Hilah on August 10, 2013 at 10:01 am

      Yay!!! I totally know what you mean about the soft butter requirement of making cookies. I usually just microwave it for a second (totally against the rules of properly softened butter, I know) and continue. BUT this melted butter thing is amazing and the cookies have such a great texture. I’m not exactly a baking chemistry expert so I’m not quite sure why it works, but it does and I think we can all thank the universe for that. Thanks for writing, Morgan!

  7. Terry on August 9, 2013 at 6:36 pm

    I’ve put together a double batch- family BBQ on Sunday – but instead of doubling the chocolate and cherries, I also added pecans and oatmeal I’d toasted. I also browned the butter. The dough is totally delish. Can’t wait til some are baked. (drool!) I can give 5 stars for the cookie cough can’t I?






    • Terry on August 9, 2013 at 9:51 pm

      >cookie dough. Well they are done and they are excellent. Can’t wait til Sunday!

      • Hilah on August 10, 2013 at 9:54 am

        Haha! Yes, Terry, I think rating it based on the dough alone is perfectly acceptable! Thanks for writing. Hope you have a great family BBQ day. Sounds like fun!

  8. Melanie B on August 10, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    Hilah….ur Awesome!! Thanks for sharing this recipe….my kids helped me make it tonight…we used white chocolate chips and strawberry flavored cranberries. The cookie dough tastes amazing!!! It’s cooling now. For some reason my dough didn’t look thick and firm like yours…not sure why…only thing I can think of is that I used unbleached flour?? Maybe i mixed the dough too much? I’ll let you know how it turns out!






    • Hilah on August 12, 2013 at 11:20 am

      Hi Melanie!
      Did your dough thicken up? The combo of white chocolate and strawberry sounds delicious. Hope y’all liked them!

      • Melanie on August 12, 2013 at 11:57 am

        Hey Hilah!
        The cookies turned out great! My son loves them!! The dough was smooth and more gooey than yours looked but the cookies still tasted deliciouso 🙂






        • Hilah on August 12, 2013 at 5:26 pm

          Yay!!!

  9. shanik on August 13, 2013 at 5:53 pm

    Hi Hilah!
    Just made some cookies for ice cream sandwiches and your recipe is Amazing! Never tasted anything so scrumptious and simple to prepare. Thanks for the recipe!
    I will be sure to tag you on Instagram with the final pic!

    • Hilah on August 15, 2013 at 7:12 am

      That’s perfect, Shanik! I didn’t think about making ice cream sandwiches with these, but the texture has got to be just great. Thanks!

  10. Mumof6 on August 23, 2013 at 10:04 am

    Thank you so much Hilah for this recipe. My kids and I made this yesterday and they are perfect. This recipe is definitely a keeper. 🙂






    • Hilah on August 23, 2013 at 6:37 pm

      Oh that’s wonderful! So happy to hear that. Baking together is a great way to spend time with kids and get them interested in cooking. 🙂

  11. Missy on October 3, 2013 at 4:58 pm

    Where do you get food mixture from? Can you please give me the type brand that you get? Thank you for the recipe. My friends love it and its taste so delicious.






    • Hilah on October 3, 2013 at 7:41 pm

      Hi Missy! I use a Kitchenaid mixer.

  12. Victoria on November 27, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    i made these exactly and mine were so thick..your picture looks so much flatter thinner… I’m literally looking at them in the oven lol Maybe I did something wrong. any advice as to what I may have done wrong ?

    • Hilah on November 27, 2013 at 11:04 pm

      Hi Victoria,
      I think once they finish cooking and cooling on the tray they will look more “normal”. Let me know!

  13. Nikki on December 8, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    Hilah- These are amazing! I’ve tried the melted butter and using just one whole egg and a yolk before, but I never thought of browning the butter! So much better! And I NEVER would have thought bittersweet chips would be good in a cookie, but it keeps the cookie from being too sweet (like semi-sweet chips) and you can actually taste the buttery goodness and the yummy chocolate! You are brilliant!

    • Hilah on December 8, 2013 at 6:42 pm

      So glad you like these, Nikki! They are definitely one of the best cookies ever!

  14. Aramis on July 5, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    This is my impress the fuck out of people cookie recipes. They are obscenely delicious. Don’t change anything about this recipe except maybe doubling it. 🙂






    • Hilah on July 6, 2014 at 10:27 am

      Yay! “Obscenely delicious” is the best compliment ever!

  15. Chauncée on September 27, 2014 at 11:54 am

    Thank you for this recipe!!! Everyone loves when we make these

    • Hilah on September 28, 2014 at 10:49 am

      Great to hear, Chauncée! 🙂 I love these cookies.

  16. naz on November 2, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    Hello Hilah!!!
    Love your recipesss!!! It’s so easy and simple to follow! I’m a fan of yours from Malaysia!
    I was just wondering if I can substitute the dried cherries with glace cherries.

    • Hilah on November 3, 2014 at 12:06 pm

      Hi Naz!
      I think that will work. You mean dry-packed glace cherries, right? Not the maraschino cherries in a jar.

      • naz on November 4, 2014 at 12:43 am

        I made it last night!! I used dried cherries instead because I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out with glace cherries. Not the maracschino cherries. And it turned out fabulous!!!! Chewy and moist and just awesome! Thanks a lot for sharing!






  17. Ismail on November 17, 2014 at 5:54 am

    Hi Hillah,

    what does it mean by a egg and a egg yolk, does it mean a whole egg plus a separate egg yolk? I’m confused

    • Hilah on November 17, 2014 at 6:43 pm

      HI Ismail!
      Yes, that is exactly what it means. One egg plus an extra egg yolk.

      • Ismail on March 26, 2015 at 10:33 am

        Hi Hillah,
        I know it’s been a while now but I just made these for part of my final grade of the exam, and I got to say it went AMAZINGLY. I didn’t use dried cherries as I don’t like them and used white chocolate chips instead with the semi-sweet chips and added cocoa powder to the dry ingredients for more of a chocolate taste (Im a choco lover!).

        I made smaller cookies and made about 15 and now I only have about 5! The whole class LOVED THEM! And it got me a A*/A+! THANKYOU soo much, im going to be making them frequently!

  18. Lauri on November 29, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    Oh.. my…GOSH, Made these with the grandkids tonight! They get SO Big. Beyond delicious! I give this 25 stars if I could! So easy and perfect! SERIOUSLY! THANKS!






    • Hilah on December 2, 2018 at 7:54 am

      Yay! Thanks, Lauri!!

  19. Pony on December 17, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    I always make just chocolate chip cookies but this year decided to try something new. I added half cherries and half dried cranberries, with dark chocolate chips for extra Holiday decadence. They smell lovely baking and I’m sure taste amazing. Can’t wait to give these away to my friends and colleagues for the holidays!

  20. Cynthia S on May 24, 2020 at 7:08 am

    Great recipe! My family loved these cookies, I’ll be making them again






    • Hilah on May 26, 2020 at 7:12 am

      I’m so glad!

  21. Laura on May 25, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    These were so perfect!!






  22. Rose on June 26, 2020 at 11:00 pm

    OMG!! These are truly delicious! I made them exactly as stated in the recipe but with the burnt butter option. Will definitely be making these again. Both the flavour and texture make these really scrumptious! Many thanks for the recipe!






  23. Bernice on Sept. 6, 2020 on September 6, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    I liked that the recipe included how to make the brown butter. I found the cookies overly sweet and the big pieces of dried cherries sometimes overtook the taste. I would definitely try making these again. Next time I would reduce the amount of sugar (my husband who has a sweet tooth agreed they were sweet) and cut the cherries in pieces and use less.






  24. Shannon Miller on December 15, 2020 at 9:27 am

    Aloha! Can I use crisco butter sticks for this recipe? MAHALO

    • Hilah on December 15, 2020 at 11:43 am

      You could, but skip the browned butter. Just cream the crisco with the sugar, starting at step 3

  25. Dossy on December 15, 2020 at 10:52 am

    I made this recipe yesterday in the suggested size, browning the butter, and using both red and green “sweetened Fruit” cherries and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I tasted one when they were cooling off and they were incredibly good. They spent the night in the refrigerator (I live in Florida where everything goes into the refrigerator), and the next day they were magical! They are now my new favorite holiday cookie and my neighbors will be receiving surprise packages!






    • Hilah on December 15, 2020 at 11:43 am

      I bet they look so festive!

  26. Jo on December 22, 2020 at 12:26 pm

    My cookies are in the oven now so hope they turn out as well as all the others. I find the dough to be really dry and hard to put on cookie sheet with the 1/4 cup measurement. Any ideas?

  27. Angela Holland on May 11, 2021 at 9:19 am

    Hi Hilah,
    Should I chop the cherries if I make the cookies smaller than the 1/4 cup size?
    Do I need to make any adjustments for size difference?
    I’m going to bake these this afternoon.
    Thanks

    • Hilah on May 11, 2021 at 9:48 am

      I think chopping them up might make for a better texture with smaller cookies and yes, reduce the cooking time. I’d check them at 10 minutes, but they might need 12 minutes.

  28. Angela on July 25, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    Absolutely DELISH! Thank you for sharing this! I’m going to print it out and save it in my recipe book!






  29. Michele on September 8, 2021 at 4:51 pm

    I was looking for a recipe to use up a jar of maraschino cherries. if I use them in this recipe, what is the worst possible thing that could happen?

    • Hilah on September 9, 2021 at 11:07 am

      I think if you drained them well, coarsely chopped and drained them again, it would probably work okay. You may want to reduce the sugar in the cookies a little since those will be much sweeter than dried cherries. Good luck!

  30. Carl on September 23, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    They are delicious.

    Modified recipe to add 3/4 cup of toasted pecans by reducing cherries and chocolate pieces to 3/4 cup each. And I used equal parts brown and regular sugar. I added 2 minutes of baking time to brown and crisp them more.






  31. Liz & Bella on December 20, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    These are AMAZING! I am going to try to soak the cherries in bourbon and see how that goes for the next batch.
    Thank you for this recipe

    • Hilah on December 21, 2021 at 9:50 am

      I love that idea!

  32. Dossy on December 25, 2021 at 6:51 am

    This is now my go-to Christmas cookie recipe. I brown the butter, use semi-sweet chocolate chips, and mix both red and green cherries. They are as delicious as they are festive, and everyone I’ve shared them with has loved them. Thank you for a great recipe!






  33. Heather on March 11, 2022 at 7:30 pm

    Let me just tell you these cookies were delicious and everybody love them! I also made a separate batch using chocolate covered blueberries oh my goodness!






    • Hilah on March 27, 2022 at 6:51 am

      Oh my gosh the blueberries sound so good!

  34. Wendy on April 10, 2022 at 8:30 pm

    I have been making this cookie on a regular basis and found it during the beginning of COVID. They are the best chocolate chip cookie ever. When ever I make a batch to share friends and family are truly in love with this cookie. I use an 1/8 of a cup measure and get about 2 dozen nice size cookies. Living in Colorado at altitude it takes about 16 minutes for each batch to bake.






    • Hilah on April 11, 2022 at 7:44 am

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying these cookies, Wendy, and thanks for the high altitude baking tip 🙂

  35. Dana on December 24, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    I’m not normally the cookie baker in the family, but I needed a project to do during this Christmas Storm with the kids while my wife worked. We had fun, and the cookies were great. My wife’s verdict: “these cookies are fabulous!” Needless to say, Santa will be receiving these cookies this evening, and we’ll be making this recipe again. We browned the butter, by the way… it was fancy, and I think made it that much better. Thanks!!!






    • Shari on August 19, 2023 at 6:30 am

      Mine came out to dry. I could hardly keep them together. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Seems like they need more butter? Still good flavor.

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