Chocolate Cookies with Cherries & White Chocolate Chips.

Ingredients

• 10 T. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 c. flour
• 6 T. unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. dried cherries
• 1/2 c. white chocolate chips

Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, or grease them, or use silicone liners.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, at least 5 mins. Walk away if you need to, but let it get really well-combined. Add the egg and almond extract and mix again. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to the butter mixture slowly, so you don’t end up in a cloud of cocoa-flour, and eventually increase the mixer speed to combine everything thoroughly. Mix in the cherries and white chocolate chips on a very low speed or by hand. Chill your dough for half an hour, minimum, and then drop by tablespoonfuls (use a melon ball-style scoop for ease and uniformity) onto your prepared pans and bake for 8-10 mins. The cookies will be soft coming out of the oven but will firm up in just a few minutes. Store them in a tightly-sealed container for up to 5 days; makes about 40 cookies.

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