Sweet Cherry Chip Cookies

Life truly is a bowl of cherries, especially when you have a batch of these incredibly soft and wonderfully chewy Cherry Chip Cookies fresh from the oven! These delightful cookies, crafted with a clever cake mix shortcut, are an absolute dream. Imagine the comforting taste of a classic sugar cookie, but elevated with bursts of sweet maraschino cherries and crowned with a luscious, homemade maraschino cherry glaze. They are simple to make, yet offer a gourmet touch that will impress everyone.

Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, these easy cherry chip cake mix cookies are designed for success. Their vibrant pink hue and irresistible flavor make them perfect for any celebration, from a festive holiday gathering to a casual afternoon treat. Each bite delivers a harmonious blend of chewy texture and fruity sweetness, making them an instant favorite. Get ready to bake a batch that will disappear as quickly as you make them!

More Irresistible Cherry Delights

If you’re a fan of all things cherry, then you’ll absolutely adore these other amazing treats that deserve a spot on your baking list. From rich cheesecakes to decadent bars, these recipes showcase the versatility and deliciousness of cherries. Don’t miss out on these fantastic ideas:

• Easy Cherry Cheesecake Cookie Cups
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Cherry Bars
• Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Why You’ll Fall in Love with These Easy Cherry Chip Cookies

These Cherry Chip Cookies aren’t just another cookie recipe; they’re a revelation in simplicity, vibrant flavor, and delightful texture. Here’s why they’ll quickly become a staple in your baking repertoire and a cherished treat for family and friends:

• Effortlessly Easy: Thanks to the clever use of a store-bought cake mix, the cookie dough comes together in mere minutes with minimal ingredients. This makes them an ideal choice for busy schedules or whenever a sudden craving for homemade cookies strikes.
• Soft & Chewy Perfection: The cake mix base is specifically designed to create a consistently soft and wonderfully chewy texture that melts in your mouth with every bite. Say goodbye to dry, crumbly cookies!
• Vibrant Cherry Flavor: Real maraschino cherries are baked directly into the cookie dough, providing delightful bursts of fruity sweetness and a gorgeous pink speckle throughout each cookie. The flavor is unmistakable and utterly delicious.
• Stunning Homemade Glaze: A simple, yet incredibly flavorful, maraschino cherry glaze adds an extra layer of sweetness, a beautiful sheen, and an intensified cherry punch. This vibrant pink topping makes these cookies look as good as they taste, adding a professional touch with minimal effort.
• Versatile for Any Occasion: Their festive pink color and delightful taste make them incredibly versatile. They are ideal for celebrating holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Christmas, but are equally wonderful for everyday snacking, school lunchboxes, or bringing to a potluck.

The Magic of Cake Mix: Your Ultimate Shortcut to Perfect Cookies

Using a cake mix as the foundation for cookies is a brilliant baking hack that saves significant time and effort without compromising on incredible taste or desirable texture. For these Cherry Chip Cookies, we wisely utilize Betty Crocker’s Super Moist Cherry Chip Cake Mix. This pre-packaged mix conveniently contains most of the dry ingredients already measured and perfectly blended, including flour, sugar, leavening agents, and even those tiny, flavorful cherry-flavored bits that give our cookies their signature look and taste.

The true beauty of this method lies in its sheer simplicity. Instead of painstakingly measuring out multiple individual dry ingredients, you only need to add a couple of common pantry staples – specifically, a bit of oil and two eggs – to transform the cake mix into a wonderfully pliable, easy-to-work-with cookie dough. This dramatically cuts down on your preparation time and greatly simplifies cleanup, making homemade cookies an accessible delight even on your busiest days. Furthermore, the consistent formulation of commercial cake mixes helps ensure that your cookies turn out perfectly soft and chewy every single time, practically eliminating much of the guesswork and potential for baking mishaps.

Crafting the Irresistible Maraschino Cherry Glaze

While the Cherry Chip Cookies themselves are undeniably fantastic, the homemade maraschino cherry glaze elevates them to an entirely new level of deliciousness. This simple yet impactful glaze is made with just a few basic ingredients, each contributing to its vibrant flavor and stunning appearance:

• Maraschino cherries and their juice: These are the stars, providing the unmistakable sweet cherry flavor and that captivating, beautiful pink hue that makes the cookies so visually appealing.
• Heavy cream (or milk of choice): This adds a touch of richness to the glaze and is crucial for achieving the perfect pouring or spreading consistency.
• Confectioner’s sugar: Also known as powdered sugar, this forms the sweet base for the glaze, ensuring a smooth, delightful finish.
• A dash of salt: A tiny pinch of salt plays a vital role in balancing the sweetness of the glaze, enhancing the overall flavor profile and preventing it from being overly cloying.

The glaze is incredibly easy to whip up, taking only minutes. By blending the maraschino cherries with their juice, you create a wonderfully vibrant and intensely flavored base. Then, simply whisk in the confectioner’s sugar, salt, and cream until it reaches your desired consistency. This glaze not only adds a lovely visual appeal to your cookies but also imparts a burst of concentrated cherry flavor that perfectly complements the subtle cherry notes within the cookies themselves.

Essential Ingredients for Your Cherry Chip Cookies

For the Soft & Chewy Cherry Chip Cookies:

• 1 box (approximately 15.25 ounces) Betty Crocker’s super moist cherry chip cake mix
• ⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• Optional: 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract for an enhanced aroma and flavor in the cookies.

For the Irresistible Cherry Frosting Glaze:

• 6-8 maraschino cherries (drained well, but be sure to reserve 1 tablespoon of their vibrant juice)
• 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice (from the reserved juice)
• 1 ¼ cups confectioners sugar (also commonly known as powdered sugar)
• ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
• 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or your preferred milk (start with 1 tablespoon and gradually add more if a thinner glaze is desired)

How to Make Homemade Cherry Chip Cake Mix Cookies: A Step-by-Step Guide

Making these glorious Cherry Chip Cookies is surprisingly straightforward and incredibly rewarding. Follow these simple steps carefully to ensure a perfect, delicious batch every single time:

Part 1: Preparing and Baking the Cherry Chip Cookies

1. Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheet: Begin by preheating your oven to the precise temperature of 350°F (175°C). Next, take a baking sheet and line it completely with a sheet of parchment paper. This crucial step prevents the cookies from sticking and makes cleanup an absolute breeze. Set the prepared baking sheet aside.
2. Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: In a generously sized mixing bowl, empty the entire box of cherry chip cake mix. Then, add the ⅓ cup of canola or vegetable oil, and crack in the 2 large eggs. If you’ve chosen to include it for an extra layer of flavor, now is the time to add 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.
3. Mix the Dough to Perfection: Using a sturdy fork or an electric mixer set to low speed, thoroughly combine all the ingredients. Mix just until a soft, uniform dough forms and no dry streaks of the cake mix are visible. It’s important not to overmix the dough, as this can lead to tougher cookies. The dough will have a thick consistency and might be slightly sticky, which is perfectly normal.
4. Scoop and Arrange Cookie Dough: Employ a cookie scoop (or two spoons for shaping) to create uniform dough balls. Consistency in size is key for even baking. Carefully place the dough balls onto your prepared baking sheet, ensuring each cookie is spaced about 2 inches apart to allow for proper spreading during baking without merging.
5. Baking Times – Size Matters: The exact baking time will depend directly on the size of your cookie scoops. It’s important to watch your cookies closely and remove them from the oven when their edges are just set and lightly golden, but their centers still appear slightly soft and puffy. This ensures a wonderfully soft and chewy cookie.
   • Small (1 tablespoon) cookies: Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes.
   • Medium (2 tablespoon) cookies: Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.
   • Large (¼ cup cookie scoop) cookies: Bake for approximately 14-16 minutes.

   Always avoid the temptation to overbake, as this is the primary cause of dry, crumbly cookies. A slightly soft center guarantees that perfectly chewy finish once the cookies have cooled.

6. Cooling the Baked Cookies: Once your cookies are beautifully baked, carefully remove them from the oven. Allow them to cool directly on the baking sheet for about 5-10 minutes. This critical step allows them to set up properly and prevents them from breaking when transferred. While they cool, you can proceed to prepare the vibrant cherry frosting glaze.

Part 2: Crafting the Delicious Cherry Frosting Glaze

1. Prepare Cherry Puree: To begin, place the drained maraschino cherries and the reserved 1 tablespoon of maraschino cherry juice into a food processor or a blender. Process until you achieve a smooth, vibrant puree. If you prefer a glaze with a bit of textural interest, you can pulse briefly to leave some small cherry bits.
2. Combine Glaze Ingredients: Transfer the prepared cherry puree into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the confectioner’s sugar and the pinch of salt. Whisk all the ingredients vigorously until the mixture is completely smooth and free of any lumps, ensuring a silky consistency.
3. Adjust Glaze Consistency: Gradually add the heavy cream (or your chosen milk), starting with just 1 tablespoon. Whisk continuously until the glaze reaches your desired consistency. For a thinner, more pourable glaze perfect for drizzling, add more liquid (either additional cherry juice or cream) a teaspoon at a time. For a thicker, more opaque glaze suitable for spreading, gradually mix in a bit more confectioner’s sugar. The ideal consistency should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but still able to drip slowly and smoothly.
4. Glaze the Cooled Cookies: Once the cookies have cooled completely to room temperature (applying glaze to warm cookies will cause it to melt and run), transfer them to a wire rack. Place parchment paper underneath the rack to catch any excess drips and facilitate easy cleanup. Drizzle or carefully spread the cherry glaze evenly over each cookie. For a particularly professional appearance, you can gently dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze.
5. Set the Glaze: Allow the glazed cookies to sit undisturbed at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or until the beautiful cherry glaze has fully set and hardened slightly. This ensures a clean, non-sticky finish.

Essential Tips for Perfect Cherry Chip Cookies Every Time

Achieving bakery-quality Cherry Chip Cookies at home is simpler than you might imagine, especially when armed with these expert tips:

• Avoid Overmixing the Dough: This is a golden rule in baking! Overmixing cookie dough can overdevelop the gluten in the flour, which inevitably leads to tough, less tender cookies. Mix just until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and you no longer see dry pockets of cake mix.
• Use Room Temperature Eggs: Eggs at room temperature incorporate much more easily and smoothly into the dough. This creates a more uniform batter and ultimately contributes to a better, softer texture in your final baked cookies.
• Measure Accurately: While the cake mix handles most of the dry ingredients, precise measurements for the added oil and eggs are still absolutely crucial. Always use proper measuring cups and spoons to ensure the correct ratios for optimal results.
• Chill the Dough (Optional but Recommended): If your kitchen is particularly warm, or if you find the dough to be excessively sticky and difficult to handle, consider chilling it. A brief chill of 15-30 minutes in the refrigerator before scooping can make the dough much easier to work with and also helps to prevent excessive spreading of the cookies during baking.
• Do Not Overbake: This is arguably the most important tip for achieving wonderfully soft and chewy cookies. Remove them from the oven when the edges are just barely golden and look set, but the centers still appear slightly soft and puffed. Remember, the cookies will continue to set and firm up as they cool on the hot baking sheet.
• Cool Completely Before Glazing: Patience is a virtue here! Applying glaze to warm cookies will cause it to melt, become runny, and simply slide off. Ensure your cookies are completely cool to the touch – preferably at room temperature – for the best, most even, and most appealing glaze application.
• Master Glaze Consistency: Pay close attention to the consistency of your cherry glaze. It should be thick enough to beautifully cling to the cookies but still thin enough to spread smoothly and evenly. Don’t hesitate to adjust by adding a bit more powdered sugar for thickness or a touch more liquid (cherry juice or cream) for a thinner consistency, a teaspoon at a time.

Delicious Serving Suggestions for Your Cherry Chip Cookies

These Cherry Chip Cookies are absolutely delightful on their own, but here are some creative ideas to make them an even more special and memorable treat:

• Classic Comfort: Serve them alongside a tall, frosty glass of cold milk, a comforting warm cup of freshly brewed coffee, or your favorite fragrant tea for a perfect snack.
• Elegant Dessert Platter: Arrange these vibrant cookies on a beautiful dessert platter with an assortment of other treats for parties, gatherings, or holiday celebrations. Their striking pink color is sure to make them a standout!
• Ice Cream Enhancement: For an extra layer of indulgence and texture, crumble a cookie or two over a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream, or even a complementary cherry-flavored ice cream.
• Thoughtful Homemade Gift: These visually appealing and delicious cookies make a wonderful homemade gift. Package them neatly in a decorative box, a festive tin, or a clear cellophane bag tied with a ribbon for teachers, neighbors, friends, or anyone deserving of a sweet treat.

Optimal Storage for Your Cherry Chip Cookies

Proper storage is essential to maintain the delightful moistness and freshness of your Cherry Chip Cookies for as long as possible:

• Room Temperature Storage: Once your cookies are completely cooled and the glaze has fully set, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They will remain wonderfully moist and fresh for up to 3 days. To prevent sticking, you can place a piece of parchment paper between layers if stacking.
• Refrigeration for Extended Freshness: For extended freshness, particularly in warmer climates or if you’ve made a large batch, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. For the best soft and chewy texture, allow them to come to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before serving.

Freezing Your Cherry Chip Cookies: Raw Dough and Baked Options

These versatile cookies are excellent candidates for making ahead, either as raw dough or after they’ve been baked. This convenient option means you can effortlessly enjoy a fresh, homemade batch whenever a sudden craving strikes or unexpected guests arrive!

To Freeze Baked Cookies:

After your Cherry Chip Cookies are baked and the vibrant glaze has completely set and hardened, allow them to cool fully to room temperature. Place the cooled, glazed cookies in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and transfer them to the freezer for 1-2 hours, or until they are completely solid. Once frozen solid, carefully transfer the cookies to a freezer-safe airtight container or a heavy-duty freezer bag, ensuring to remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn. They can be stored successfully for 3-4 weeks. To enjoy, simply remove the desired number of cookies and allow them to thaw at room temperature for approximately 15-30 minutes before serving.

To Freeze Raw Cookie Dough:

Prepare the cookie dough exactly as instructed in the recipe. Scoop the dough into balls of your desired baking size and place them onto a separate baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Transfer this baking sheet to the freezer for 1-2 hours, or until the individual dough balls are completely frozen solid. Once frozen, transfer the dough balls to freezer-safe zipper bags, squeezing out as much air as possible. Label the bags clearly with the date. When you’re ready to bake a fresh batch, simply place the frozen dough balls on a prepared baking sheet and bake them directly from frozen. You may find it necessary to increase the baking time by just 1-3 minutes compared to baking fresh dough. There’s no need to thaw the dough first, making spontaneous baking a reality!

These gorgeous cherry cake mix cookies are truly fun and utterly delightful, boasting just the right amount of sweet cherry flavor that brightens every bite! The beautiful pink colored frosting, elegantly adorned with tiny ruby-red cherry bits, is not just delicious but truly incredible, making these cookies a visual feast. They are perfectly suited for celebrations throughout the year – imagine them as a festive highlight for the 4th of July, a charming and thoughtful gift for Mother’s Day, a sweet surprise for Father’s Day, a romantic gesture for Valentine’s Day, or a cheerful, vibrant addition to your Christmas cookie platter. This is truly an easy cookie batch that you can whip up effortlessly and watch disappear just as quickly. The kids, and all the adults alike, will absolutely adore them and ask for more!

More Irresistible Cookie Recipes We Can’t Resist!

If you’ve loved the simplicity and deliciousness of these Cherry Chip Cookies, you’re in for a treat! Explore more fantastic cookie recipes from our collection that are sure to become new family favorites and crowd-pleasers:

• Ultimate Chocolate Cookies
• Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
• Best S’more Cookies
• White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies
• Awesome Rainbow Cookies
• Salted Caramel White Chocolate Cookies
• Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Chip Cookies
• Milk Chocolate Kiss Cookies
• Santa’s Christmas Trash Cookies