Chocolate-cherry cookie bars

In celebration of the holidays and as an excuse to break out the mixer and food processor I've now schlepped through 2 moves, I've decided to try my hand at baking. I've certainly made some baked goods from family recipes over the years, but I've never really branched out into new cookie or cake recipes.

So it was time to consult one of my cookbooks for a new recipe. I figured the one the size of a dictionary might have an interesting cookie recipe, and it didn't disappoint: Chocolate-cherry cookie bars. I love cherries and chocolate - let's give this a shot.

"Chopping" the dried cherries became a bit more like "mashing them into smaller pieces," but I got those ready to go.

 
The dough was primarily butter, flour, cherries, and sugar. Except it wanted "superfine sugar," which meant I got to play with the food processor!  All those ingredients were tossed into the mixer, and while it stirred I tossed in cream cheese and some vanilla. Barring extreme charring, I couldn't really imagine how these cookies couldn't turn out delicious.

I molded the dough into a cookie sheet and popped it in the oven. It is worth noting that my oven often disagrees with me on the temperature I've chosen, so I had to babysit it to make sure the cookies didn't burn or remain unbaked.  Out of the oven, I sprinkled chocolate chips over the surface of what was essentially a giant cookie and let them melt:

I spread the melted chocolate in a relatively uniform layer, which of course meant I also got some on my apron, hands, arms, and face, and sprinkled chopped hazelnuts on top:

The final test was to cut the giant cookie into "1 1/4 inch diamonds," which I promptly guesstimated into diamonds closer to 3 inches. Or more. But who's counting?

Final verdict: They're very chocolatey and relatively chewy. My biggest complaint is that you can't really taste the cherries much. Not sure if I'd make these again, but if I did I might be tempted to add some maraschino cherry juice to the dough....Overall? A pleasant experience!