Celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day with These Chunky Cherry-Double Chip Cookies

Today, March 15, marks National Chocolate Chip Day. Everyone knows how great these cocoa morsels taste when baked in cookies, pancakes, or eaten plain by the handful. But what most people don’t realize is that the invention of chocolate chips was (allegedly) a total accident. There’s a widely held theory that Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, MA, ran out of baker’s chocolate while making an ice-cream-and-cookie desserts; as a replacement, she used a Nestle bittersweet chocolate bar, cut into chunks.

Whether or not this is true, we totally support a full day of celebrating chocolate chips. To honor the treat, we’re whipping up a batch of Chunky Cherry-Double Chip Cookies from The Southern Cookie Book ($14; amazon.com), a new cookbook from our friends over at Southern Living. Filled with cherries, white and dark chocolate, and toasted almonds, these drop cookies are a delicious and easy way to cap your Sunday. Try the recipe below!

Chunky Cherry-Double Chip Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried cherries
3⁄4 cup butter, softened
3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
3⁄4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1⁄4 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3⁄4 tsp table salt
1 (12-oz) package semisweet chocolate chunks
1 cup white chocolate morsels
1⁄3 cup slivered toasted almonds
Vegetable cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Microwave 1 tbsp water and dried cherries in a glass bowl on high for 30 seconds, stirring once. Let stand 10 minutes.

2. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.

3. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in semisweet chocolate chunks, white chocolate morsels, almonds, and cherries.

4. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased (with cooking spray) baking sheets.

5. Bake, in batches, at 350°F for 8 to 14 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Transfer to wire racks, and cool completely (about 20 minutes).