Chocolate Cherry Beauties

"This is the best cookie I have ever tasted"- My dad, this Christmas. That is saying a lot.  He likes cookies.

I call these "Chocolate Cherry Beauties" they are, in a word, awesome.  If you like to bake, I highly recommend this recipe.  Not only is it absolutely yummy, it is very pretty.  You will not fail to impress with these cookies.  My apologies for wonky background colors, I copied this from its page on Just A Pinch, because I was NOT going to type it again. (<---totally lazy)  recipe after the jump

4 oz	unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c	vegetable oil
2 c	granulated sugar
2 tsp	vanilla
4	eggs
2 c	flour
2 tsp	baking powder
1/2 tsp	salt
1/4 stk	butter
1 c	confectioners' sugar
1 tsp	rum or rum extract
1 c	milk chocolate chips
	maraschino cherries

1

 Prepare cookie base. Melt unsweetened chocolate with a double boiler (or the microwave in 30 second increments.) In a separate bowl, add chocolate to the oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix until well incorporated. Stir in eggs, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Chill for 2-3 hours. Remove from refrigerator. Roll dough into one inch balls. bake at 350° for 10 minutes, this will give you a softer cookie. Up to 12 minutes if you desire a crispy cookie. I prefer soft. once you have removed the cookies from the oven immediately use a round bottomed spoon (a teaspoon measuring spoon is a good size) to smoosh a "well" into the cookies. Allow to cool completely.

2

 Prepare cookie filling. In a medium bowl, mix softened butter(not melted), confectioners sugar,and rum extract (or rum for flavor you may need a little more than a teaspoon) use a hand mixer, until it is the consistency of piping frosting.Add 1/4 cup of milk chips, finely chopped. Using a pasrty bag without a tip, pipe a dollop of filling into the well you pressed in the cookie. Add Maraschino cherries to the top of each cookie. Ones with stems are very pretty.

3

 Melt the remaining milk chocolate chips, drizzle the cookies with melted chocolate. The cookies in the picture are a "bite sized version" of this cookie- when I rolled the ball they were about the size of the cherries before baking.