I’m as dazzled by a superbly adorned vacation cookie as the subsequent individual, however on the subject of wielding a pastry bag myself, I’m not a professional. I’m way more concerning the cookies than the piping. And whereas elaborately crafted cookies formed like delicate snowflakes or sporting ombre frostings are stunning, I will be content material with scrumptious.

However these chewy brownie cookies are fairly good-looking too, with none fancy footwork. Plus, they’re very shippable. Their fudginess means they gained’t dry out rapidly, and they’re sturdy, so don’t want almost as a lot bubble wrap to guard them in transit.

This recipe relies on the Large Chewy Brownie Cookies from my first cookbook The Mother 100, however I made a decision to gussy them up for the vacations. The bottom is a fudgy, moist, brownie-like batter. Dried cherries add sweet-tart chewiness, and white chocolate chips add a peek of creamy white, and a bit extra texture. They appear festive – good for a cookie swap!

You can also make the batter as much as 5 days forward and retailer it within the fridge, or freeze the cookie balls for as much as a month in a freezer-safe zipper prime bag with the air pressed out. Allow them to defrost earlier than baking, or if baking the cookies straight from the freezer, simply know you’ll want so as to add a couple of minutes to the cooking time.

Baked cookies will final for 5 days in a sealed container at room temperature, or one month if effectively wrapped and frozen.

To ship the cookies, be certain that they’re utterly cooled earlier than packing them up. Use a sturdy corrugated cardboard field, line it with bubble wrap, and create a base with some packing peanuts and crumbled paper (you’ll be able to get your hands on eco-friendly bubble wrapping and different packing supplies). Place the cookies into plastic luggage in flat layers. Layer the baggage within the lined field, separated by extra packing materials to maintain them cushioned.

Or pack them into a reasonably container, additionally with some padding between the layers, after which nestle the container within the transport field with some extra packing materials on the highest and sides. Be sure that the field is full, so the cookies don’t shift and break. Mark the field perishable, and ship through one- or two-night supply to your fortunate recipient.

Know what a unbelievable reward for good friend can be? A container stuffed with frozen disks of this dough for them to take out and bake when the necessity arises over the vacations (or any time).

Simply write the title (Large Chewy Brownie Cookies with Dried Cherries and White Chocolate Chips), the defrosting and baking directions, and the components when you’ve got trigger to suppose they is likely to be serving them to somebody with allergy symptoms. Tack that onto the tin, and put together to simply accept grateful phrases.

Large Chewy Brownie Cookies with Dried Cherries and White Chocolate Chips

Substances:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 massive eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
¾ cup roughly chopped dried cherries

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a small pot, add the butter, and the unsweetened and semisweet candies, and warmth over low warmth, stirring incessantly, simply till every part is melted and clean. Enable to chill barely.

In the meantime, in a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. In a big bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electrical mixer till creamy and yellow, about one minute. Beat within the vanilla. With the mixer on low pace, mix within the flour combination in a number of batches, simply till barely mixed.

Add the chocolate combination to the bowl and beat till clean. Let the combination cool; the batter shall be very thick. Stir within the white chocolate chips and the dried cherries (when you stir the chocolate chips in earlier than it cools, the chocolate will begin to soften and turn out to be streaky, in order for you that look.)

Scoop out heaping tablespoons of the batter and create 12 mounds on a rimmed baking sheet (you’ll bake three baking sheets of cookies in all). Bake for 9 to 11 minutes till the tops are crackly and the sides are set. Take away from the oven and allow them to sit for one minute on the baking sheet (the cookies will sink barely), then switch them to a wire rack to complete cooling.

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Katie Workman writes often about meals for The Related Press. She has written two cookbooks targeted on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mother 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at She will be reached at Katie@themom100.com.

Get extra recipes and dinner concepts from The Washington Occasions meals part.