Cherry and Chocolate Chip Cookies

My Jeanie is always trying new recipes and new variations of old recipes. I stopped by her house as she was decorating Tricia's wedding cake (which was BEAUTIFUL, by the way) and she asked me to try these cookies that she found in Bon Appetit Magazine. They're SO good! Chocolate chips, sure. White chocolate, of course. But it's all about the CHERRIES! Here's the recipe just as my Jeanie sent it to me. Try them!

1 cup dried tart cherries (I bought a bag from Target)
1/3 cup cherry liqueur (Cherry Heering) - I used the juice from maraschino cherries
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (I used salted), room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
8 oz. white chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 375. Bring cherries and cherry juice to boil in small saucepan. Remove from heat and let soak 15 minutes. Drain cherries and pat dry. (I cut up into smaller pieces.)
Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs and both extracts and beat to blend. Add flour mixture and beat on low just to blend. Stir in cherries and all chocolate chips. Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough onto parchment (or Silpat)lined baking sheet, spacing 1" apart.
Bake cookies until edges are light golden, turning baking sheets halfway through cooking, about 13 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

Tip from Joey:
Feel free to substitute whatever flavored liqueur you'd like. It'll just add another dimension of flavor.
These cookies freeze well. Store your baked cookies in the freezer in a ziploc bag until you're ready to serve them. They only take a few minutes to thaw. You can also roll the unbaked dough into a log, wrap it well, and keep it in the freezer. Then just slice and bake as needed.