Pillowy dough, chocolate, and just the right amount of orange flavor make these cookies soft batch perfection!
I love fruit, yet when it comes to cookies, I lean towards all things chocolate as well as simple butter and sugar cookies. With this in mind, the following recipe for cherry-orange chocolate chip cookies was an unexpected hit for me.
What first caught my attention was the pillowy dough, which bakes to soft batch cookie perfection. The secret ingredient is cream cheese, and it makes these cookies delightfully tender and moist.
There are chocolate chips, of course, a bonus for many. From there, judicious use of orange zest, extract, and dried cherries complement the chocolate without overpowering.
The consensus among taste testers was that, thanks to their flavor, texture, and overall uniqueness, these cookies would elevate any and all cookie platters. As such, it was named a winner in the 2024 FIG magazine holiday cookie contest, run in conjunction with Garden Spot Village. (I was the lucky judge!)
The recipe was submitted by Susan Ulrich, who learned it from her mother. Susan said her mother had her bake the cookies as a teenager to keep her busy during the summer months. When Susan became a mother herself, she often made them for her boys. Notably, the early version of this recipe did not include dried cherries.
Years later, her older son married a woman from Ukraine, and Susan knew she loved cherries. So on one of their visits, she added the dried cherries. They were a hit with everyone and Susan has included them ever since.
What our taste testers said:
- At a recent shoot, Donovan kept snacking on these, saying they reminded him of his favorite bakery muffin.
- The recipe contains twice as many chocolate chips as dried cherries, which produced raves from all my taste testers—including those who, like me, don’t tend to gravitate towards the fruity cookies.
- For variety, you could use dried cranberries in place of the cherries and/or use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.
- My family enjoys the classic chewy chocolate chip cookie, but this soft batch alternative scored high marks with them.
- Members of my book club were duly impressed and said they would be a great addition to a holiday cookie platter.
We’d love to know if you try this recipe! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @fountainavenuekitchen on Instagram and Facebook. Your feedback is always appreciated.
Cherry-Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened*
- 1 cup (192g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (254g) all-purpose flour (may sub a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour)
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons orange zest (from 1 orange)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (12-ounce) bag (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cherries, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar, butter, and cream cheese.
- Add the eggs, orange zest, and vanilla and orange extracts.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (I do this in two additions) and blend thoroughly.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and dried cherries.
- Drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. Helpful hint: I use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to make quick work of portioning consistently sized cookies. Make-ahead tip: At this point the dough may be covered and refrigerated.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes, or until golden-brown around the edges.**
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