Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies

From Cook's Country magazine. Don't overbake these cookies, they should be chewy.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 30
• Yields: 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup  Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 8  tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1  cup sugar
• 1  large egg
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1  cup  semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1⁄2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 24  ounces maraschino cherries, drained and stemmed
• 2  tablespoons cherry juice

Directions

1. "For the cookies".
2. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl and set aside.
3. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
4. Beat in egg and vanilla until incorporated, reduce speed to low and add flour mixture.
5. Mix until dough forms (about 1 minute).
6. "for the topping".
7. Heat chocolate and milk in saucepan over low heat until chocolate is melted (about 5 minutes)the mixture should have the consistency of mayonnaise.
8. Off heat, stir in reserved cherry juice. Cover and keep warm.
9. "To finish".
10. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees.
11. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on 2 rimmed baking sheets.
12. Using thumb, make indentation in center of each cookie and place 1 cherry in each indentation.
13. Top each cherry with 1 teaspoons of warm chocolate mixture.
14. Bake until cookies are just set (10-12 minutes) switching and rotating sheets about halfway through baking.
15. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.
16. Repeat with remaining dough.