Makesabout 2 dozen cookies
Active time:25 min
Start to finish:1 1/4 hr
August 2007
They look like the loaded chocolate-nut cookies of your youth, but a bite will reveal their luxurious upgrades: chewy sour cherries that play off the crunch of chopped pecans and the creamy sweetness of milk chocolate chunks. Your adult palate will appreciate the complexity.
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 1/2 oz fine-quality milk chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 cup dried sour cherries
Preheat oven to 375°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add chocolate chunks, pecans, and cherries and mix until just incorporated.
Drop 2 level tablespoons of dough per cookie about 2 inches apart onto 2 ungreased large baking sheets. With dampened fingers, flatten cookies slightly.
Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until puffed and set, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.
Cooks’ note: Cookies keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 5 days.
