Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries

I have always been a bit of a fan of chocolate covered cherries.  You know the ones that come in the boxes and are full of gooey filling.  If something store bought is okay, it will be much better when homemade.  I used the recipe found here.  It is fairly inexpensive and pretty simple too.

I bought a big jar of maraschino cherries from Sam's Club.  The first step was to count out about 60 cherries and put them on paper towels to drain.  You want most of the juice off them but do not stress about getting them completely dry.

Next mix the butter, corn syrup, and powdered sugar together.  I used my KitchenAid.  You want it to be mostly mixed but do not need it to be completely smooth.  Dump it out on a piece of waxed or parchment paper.

At this point you can knead it a few times until it becomes smooth.

If it is too soft at this point, pop it in the fridge until it firms up.  Some people roll it out into a sheet and cut out little circles.  I opted to just pinch off pieces and flatten them out.

Choose a cherry and wrap it completely in the sugar "dough".

Once all of the cherries are wrapped, put them into the fridge or freezer to firm up and set.

The final step of course is to dip the cherries in chocolate.  You want to do your best completely cover the sugar coating.  Again do not stress if a bit of the sugar is showing.

The original recipe instructs cooks to let the cherries sit for 2 weeks for the sugar to turn to goo.  I found that it only took 3 days.  I am not sure what the reason was.  It reminds me of an episode of the Golden Girls when Blanche says "We mature faster in the South.  I think its the heat.".  Maybe it is the heat or humidity.  Definitely keep an eye on them.  At two weeks mine would have been a runny mess.