White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies

Hubby was itching to be productive and suggested we bake cookies for our new neighbors and friends. I had been planning to do this Sunday, but he wanted to get it done Saturday. Eventually, I caved and baking ensued. No time like the present to bake something up for the Holiday Cookie Challenge

We decided to make Paula Deen’s White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies (click for recipe)

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I heathified our cookies with Baker Josef’s White Whole Wheat Flour. I really don’t notice a difference between this flour and all purpose, so why not? 🙂

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Macadamia nuts

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White chocolate chips and candied cherries. The recipe requested white chocolate “chunks” but it was either chips or a bar at the store and I figured using the chips would save me chopping time. Now the recipe didn’t say anything about chopping the cherries, but they were pretty big and I like a bit of each flavor in every bite, so I chopped mine to more evenly distribute them.

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Hubby had to help me stir the chips, nuts, and cherries into the batter, which was extra-stiff. I think the mix was 50% batter and 50% chips/nuts/cherries.

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I used an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter, which helped make sure they were all equally sized.

With about 2 minutes left on the timer for the first batch, I smelled something burning. What the…

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I checked the cookies and they were totally browned on top. Not burnt but way further cooked than I like my cookies.

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For the second batch, I lowered the temp to 350 degrees F (it was 375) and figured that would do the trick, but I guess I really should have checked the cookies early because I left them in for 1 minute under the recommended cooking time and they were STILL BROWN! Grr…

If you try these cookies, I suggest lowering the temp to 325 and checking them 2-4 minutes early. I’m just sayin…

Hubby and I did taste-test one cookie each and we still liked the flavor, but I think they really would have been better if they were slightly chewy. I love chewy cookies.

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Anywho, since they still tasted good, we packaged some up to share:

  • a tin for our new neighbors
  • a tin for our bachelor friends who are roomies
  • a container to take to our holiday party

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I can’t wait to bake/cook up some more goodies for our friends. Hmm…what to make next?

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