I love the combination of Chocolate and Cherries. In fact, the Chocolate Cherry Bonne Bell Lip Smacker was my all time favorite. So when I saw these Montmorency Dried Sour Cherries at Trader Joe's last week, I could not resist buying a package.
I wanted to make something using chocolate, so I picked the Chocolate Cherry Crumb Bars from the Martha Stewart "Cookies" book. As with all MS recipes, it was well laid out and worked like a charm. I used my Edge Brownie Pan instead of a 9" square pan, and used salted butter to grease the pan. I omitted Kirsch this time, but I will definitely use it next time. It's important to let the bars cool completely before cutting, or they will fall apart.
Chocolate Cherry Crumb Bars
1 1/4 cups dried cherries, chopped coarsely
2/3 cup water
2 1/2 sticks butter, set aside 2 tablespoons and cut the rest into small cubes
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted
2 cups plus 7 1/2 teaspoons flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons kirsch
1/2 cup good quality chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350
Butter a 9" square pan, or line with parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray.
Place cherries, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup sugar and 2/3 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been almost all absorbed - about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup sugar. Let cool, giving a few stirs, until sugar has dissolved.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, salt, brown sugar, toasted coconut, and 2 cups flour. With a pastry blender, mix in the remaining cubed butter until it resembles coarse meal. Measure 3 lightly packed cups cocoa mixture and press into the lined 9" pan. Bake until just set, about 18-20 minutes.
Place egg, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and kirsch into an electric mixer bowl. Mix on medium-high speed with the whisk attachment until pale, about 4 minutes. Gently fold in the cherry mixture and the remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons flour. Stir in chocolate chunks. Spread this mixture evenly over the set crust and then top with the reserved crumb cocoa mixture.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean - a few crumbs attached is okay - about 50 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
