Drain maraschino cherries, reserving juice. Remove stems from cherries. If using a half cherry, slice cherries in half.
1 jar maraschino cherries
Cookie Dough
Mix butter with a mixer until soft and smooth
½ cup butter
Add sugar and beat for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy
1 cup sugar
Stir in eggs
2 eggs
Add cherry juice and vanilla
3 teaspoons cherry juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla
In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt
1½ cups flour, ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
Add flour mixture to mixing bowl and mix until well combined
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
Chocolate Frosting
When ready to form cookies, place sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips in a saucepan on medium low heat.
½ cup sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Stir just until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and stir in cherry juice.
3 teaspoons cherry juice
Form Cookies
Using a small cookie scoop (#60) or your hands, form small round balls of dough. Place on an ungreased baking sheet about 1 inch apart. The dough is sticky so you may need to rinse your cookie scoop with cold water a few times while forming cookies.
Place an indentation in the center of each cookie. Add a ½ of a cherry in the indentation.
Top with chocolate mixture fully covering cherry
Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes
Allow cookies to cool for a minute on baking sheet. Then remove and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
Notes
I used a half of a maraschino cherry for each cookie. You can use a whole cherry if you prefer a bigger burst of cherry.
Dry cherries lightly before using
When creating the divvit in each cookie, use your index finger wet slightly with water to help prevent the dough from sticking to your finger
Do not overheat your chocolate. Heat just enough to melt the chocolate chips.