Chocolate-covered Heaven

Before I met my husband, I didn't really care for chocolate. I mean, if someone offered me a choice between a chocolate chip cookie or an oatmeal cookie, I would take the oatmeal. Every time. Choose between jelly beans or a chocolate bar? Jelly beans all the way. I was more of a fruit candy kind of girl-- gummies, jelly beans, butterscotch hard candies, hot tamales... you get the idea. Chocolate? Eh, take it or leave it. If I had to have chocolate, it had to be milk chocolate. Dark chocolate was just nasty, ugh! With the exception of chocolate covered cherries. I love anything with cherries, and those chocolate covered cherries don't last long around here!

My husband, on the other hand, L O V E S all things chocolate. He will eat nearly a whole bag of kisses in one sitting, or if he couldn't find any chocolate, he'll raid the pantry for chocolate chips-- the poor man's chocolate! Somehow, over the years, watching my husband enjoy eating his chocolate treats, licking his fingers and smacking his lips, I've become a chocolate lover. When I was pregnant with baby #4, my food craving was chocolate. I tell you, I never ate so much chocolate! That dark chocolate stuff? Growing on me!

I was disappointed when Brach's stopped making chocolate covered cherries and the stuff out there now doesn't compare-- the cherries are withered and tough. I always get a box for Christmas and the one I got this past season, I only ate a few before I gave the rest to my husband and the kids. So imagine my delight when I saw a recipe in the latest Taste of Home magazine (Feb/March issue 2009) for chocolate covered cherries (wonderful candies two ways)! I just had to try it.

I tweaked the recipe a little, because as always, I use what I have on hand and I don't like/buy some of the ingredients called for. They are fabulous! A little time-consuming to roll each cherry inside of the creme filling, and then individually dipping each in the chocolate (I used real melted chocolate instead of candy coating), but the result? Oh so worth it! They are the best I've tasted in a long time and the kids had fun rolling the cherries (of course I enlisted their help! It was like playdoh!).

Middle licking the spatula. Mmmmm!

What cherry? I didn't eat any chocolate covered cherry!

Yummy yummy yummy!

The candy was gone lightning quick after this photo was taken!

After we rolled all the cherries inside of the creme, I still had some creme left over. In the magazine, it listed 2 ways to make candies with the creme and the other way was to make cookies and creme bonbons. As I said, I don't like/buy some of the ingredients listed for that, so I improvised and added cream cheese and cocoa to the leftover creme then scooped out little balls with a small ice cream scoop, froze them, then dipped in chocolate and chilled until hard. I made my own version of chocolate truffles! So good!

I know this recipe will go into my little recipe book and will be made at least once a year. I am already adding this to the list of home made goodies for Christmas 2009.