Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries

I've been making homemade chocolate covered cherries for a good 4 years now.  I used to buy my mom the Cordial brand cherries every year for Christmas until I happened to come across a recipe in the Better Homes and Garden cookbook.  I decided to try it out thinking my mom would just appreciate the fact that I tried. 

Well she did, she loved them.  Said they were way better than the store bought so, 4 years later it is now my Christmas tradition to make these not only for my Mom but also now for my father-in-law as well.  I found out after I made them for my mom how much he loves them too.

The recipe is super simple but a little time consuming.  The time consuming part is why I really dread making them every year.  Guess it's a good thing I love the people I give them to.

I changed the recipe a little.  I've made them so many times now I realized quickly the original recipe didn't work as easily for me, so this is the recipe I use:

1 jar maraschino cherries
2c powdered sugar- sifted
3T butter-softened
3T light corn syrup

Drain the cherries and let them air dry for several hours on 2 layers of paper towels.  I let mine air dry at least overnight and sometimes a full day or so.  In a bowl mix butter and corn syrup until combined.  Add the powdered sugar and mix.  Once its mixed some, knead it in the bowl to get all the powdered sugar completely combined.
To make it easy on yourself, refrigerate the kneaded mixture for a couple hours, this will make working with it a lot easier.  Remove from fridge and take about 1/2 a tablespoon full of mixture and wrap it around each cherry.  Make sure the cherries are completely covered or they will come apart when you dip them in the chocolate.  If the mixture starts to get too sticky to work with refrigerate the mixture for another hour or so just make sure you keep the cherries already covered in the fridge until you cover them in chocolate.  Once all the cherries are covered melt your chocolate and dip each cherry making sure they are completely covered in the chocolate, then place them on a piece of parchment paper until the chocolate has hardened.

For the chocolate I use semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I melt 1-12oz bag in the microwave with 1T veggie oil following the melting instructions on the bag.

Mine don't turn out as pretty or as uniformed as the ones you can buy in the grocery store but I guarantee your loved ones will like them a whole lot more, regardless of their appearance.