Peppermint Tray and Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Welcome back,  post-Christmas friends and blog surfers!   I trust you had a wonderful day and maybe are even still fortunate enough to be celebrating with family.  I thought I'd share this with you, as I had to try it almostimmediately when I saw it on my FB page.  Since then, I've seen it show up on Pinterest, too.  Have you?  Plus, it's so quick and easy, there's no reason you couldn't put one of these together for goodies on New Year's eve or day.  Or, if you're like me, for your own entertainment.  Yeah, I'm cheap and easy like that.

See the minty tray my cookies are sitting on?  It started with a bag of 9 oz. starlight mints...

 

...Placed on a parchment lined cookie sheet and baked in a 350^o oven for about 10 min. (I started checking it after 5 min., just in case) and got this really cool tray.  The way my tray turned out the edges are a little flatter from melting outward more.  It measures about 8 inches at the widest points.  This is so cool, I can't wait to break it and eat it--I know that's not the point--I guess I just like the idea of breaking something before I eat it!  To see more ideas, check out Tutto Bella's post.  (It looks like her's were pooled out more, so she must have left them in the oven longer.)

Part II :  The Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookie recipe portion of the post that I'd like to share with you.  This is an old recipe that I'm sure a lot of you have.  I haven't made them for a few years and since I was pretty ambivalent* about the whole cookie-thing this year, decided to be a bit different.
 *Which doesn't mean there were any fewer cookies around!

Baked Chocolate Covered Cherries

(printable version)

Chocolate Cookie Dough
1/2 c. margarine or butter (1 stick)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teas. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 teas. salt
1/4 teas. baking soda
***
maraschino cherries, drained, reserve juice

Mix dough ingredients together, excluding cherries, to make soft dough.  Shape dough into 1" balls.  Place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Push cherry half way into each ball. 

Fudge Topping
1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk (1/2 can)
1/4 teas. salt
1 -  1 1/2 teas. cherry juice

Prepare topping:  Melt chocolate chips and condensed milk, stir constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add remaining ingredients.  Stir until smooth.

Spread fudge topping over cherry (about 1 teas.)  Bake at 350^o for 8-10 min.  Yield 36-48 cookies.

Notes:  This makes plenty of the fudge topping, so no need to be skimpy (although adding too much will make it spill off the cookie). I prefer to keep the dough balls close to 1" so there is a smaller cookie to fudge-y cherry combination.