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Friday, February 3, 2017

ChezCindy: Cookies and Wine




Yes, cookies and milk are the classic childhood pairing, but as we look towards Valentines Day, perhaps think a bit differently.  Consider decadent cherry chocolate cookies and a beautiful red wine.  Maybe the wine is the small amount left from dinner - as we did here.  Our discovery was that the sweet cherries highlighted the berry notes in the red wine.  And red wine and chocolate are always fabulous together.  Consider making these cherry chocolate cookies for a sweet finish to your Valentines dinner.  Or for any dinner occasion when there is red wine!  

Wines to consider for pairing are Oregon Pinot Noir or French red Burgundy.  Pictured here is a medium bodied Italian red wine.


Cherry Chocolate Cookies
If you can make chocolate chip cookies, you can easily make the switch to this double chocolate cookie with dried cherries and toasted pecans.  Enjoy!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (or use chocolate chips)
1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl; whisk to combine.  Set aside.

Working with an electric mixer, add the softened butter and brown sugar to the mixing bowl; mix until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one a time, mixing until combined.  Reduce the speed of the mixer, gradually add in the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.  Add in the chopped chocolate, chopped pecans and dried cherries.  Mix until just incorporated.  Less mixing overall creates a more tender cookie.   

Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie, place on an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing each about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookie is puffed and no longer appears glossy.  Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.



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