My dad used to make these years ago when I was young, they are a family favorite. It has been a LONG time since I've enjoyed this treat. I don't know where he got the original recipe, but I got a hold of it and tried my hand at making them for the first time. They turned out great! I tripled the recipe and ended up with 150 chocolate covered cherries. They'll make tasty gifts!
Chocolate Covered Cherries1 lb Powdered Sugar (about 3 1/2 cups)
4 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
4 Tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Bottle of Maraschino Cherries (or about 50 cherries)
2-3 (8 oz) bars of Semi Sweet Bakers Chocolate
Cream butter and sugar together, adding sweetened condensed milk in small amounts.
Add salt and vanilla. Blend well, it’s best to use hand blender on a low setting. Also, if it’s too dry, I like to add 1 Tbsp of regular milk. It should be doughy, but not sticky.
Drain cherries, dry well. I would leave them on a paper towel for at least an hour. It’s okay if they are sticky, just not wet. The dough won’t stick if they are wet.
Take small amount of cream mixture at a time (about the size of a cherry) and roll it out flat in the palm of your hand, wrap it around the cherries and shape it into a ball.
Lay on wax paper on a cookie sheet.
Freeze for about an hour, you can leave it overnight.
Melt chocolate in a pan on the simmer setting (be careful not to scorch it).
Dip cherries in chocolate, lay on wax paper or in mini muffin cups.
Chill again, it aids in solidification. Also, aging the chocolate allows the center to become more liquid – makes excellent cherry chocolates.
Some options –
*add nuts to the chocolate or sprinkle nuts on top
*melt white chocolate and drizzle on top of cherry chocolates for variety