Sour Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
In fact, these are chocolate “chunk” cookies—far superior to chips and essential to create those puddles and rivulets of intense chocolate flavor. Vegan option included.
Chocolate chip cookies are fine, but even when they’re excellent (dense, chewy, moist, very big, with warm puddles of chocolate) I often find them overly rich and sweet. This version, another recipe from the bail fund bake sales I used to run between 2020-2022, relies on sour cherries to offset the inevitable sweetness. I like a sour cherry because it’s an objectively elegant format of fruit, evocative of raisins in a comforting way but not nearly so grandma-ish.
My friend Gabby’s son Luca ate one once, except for the sour cherries which he spat out and plopped half-chewed into my hand. You don’t have to do that, though—just omit them if you don’t like them. I include options for a vegan and non-vegan version of the recipe. Sour cherry chocolate chip cookies are for everyone! (Except Luca.)
Sour Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
1 flax egg (1 ½ tablespoons ground flax seed + 3 ½ tablespoons water) or 1 large egg + 1 yolk
1 ¾ cups (350 grams) light brown sugar
2 sticks (226 grams) softened vegan butter or dairy butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
10 ounces chocolate, roughly chopped (I like a blend of milk and bittersweet chocolate)
1 cup whole dried sour cherries
Flaky salt
Directions
For vegan cookies: Combine your flax meal and water, stir, and set aside to thicken.
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream sugar and butter on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl a few times as you go. It’s ready when fluffy and lighter in color.
Add flax/chicken eggs and vanilla extract. Cream for a further two minutes, scraping bowl at least once.
In separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to sugar mixture and mix on low speed until just a few streaks of flour remain. Add chocolate and sour cherries, folding in with a rubber spatula. Give the dough a few final folds to make sure no flour remains on bottom of bowl.
Cover dough with plastic wrap, placing it directly on dough to prevent it from drying out. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
After chilling, line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Form cookies according to preference: For bakery-sized cookies, use a ¼-cup measure to shape around 16 cookies (80 grams each) and place four per baking sheet. For medium-sized cookies, use two tablespoons of dough and place 14-16 per baking sheet.
Sprinkle each with flaky salt and lightly press into the dough to help it adhere. At this point, I prefer to freeze the cookies to help them keep their shape—especially if they’re vegan. Note that freezing necessitates slightly longer baking.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit and line a few sheets with parchment paper. Bakery-sized cookies will need about 16-20 minutes, and medium-sized cookies will need closer to 10-14 minutes. Rotate pans halfway through. If they spread a little wonky, encourage them into shape with a butter knife or spatula.
They’re done when the edges are golden brown. They’ll continue to cook on the baking sheet for several minutes. Let cool and enjoy.