Every Christmas season we would always have chocolate covered cherries. So of course we needed to come up with Chocolate Cherry Chunk Brownies. Our grandpa Tom was the biggest chocolate cherry lover. We would give them to him every year for Christmas.
We share his love for the flavors of chocolate and cherry combined. These brownies are the bomb! They are so easy to make and look like you spent a lot of time in the kitchen.
The cherry layer is as easy as mixing some amazing ingredients together. And then the chocolate layer on top is done in the microwave. So easy and it just keeps getting better.
The cherry filling in the middle layer has mini chocolate chips and tastes like Ben and Jerry’s Garcia ice cream. That is one of our personal favorite ice cream flavors.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make Chocolate Cherry Chunk Brownies, you will need the following ingredients:
Brownies
- Betty Crocker Supreme brownie mix
- Water
- Vegetable oil
- Eggs
Cherry Layer:
- Butter, softened
- Powdered sugar
- Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Maraschino cherries, (reserve juice)
Chocolate Layer:
- Milk chocolate chips, or semi-sweet
- Butter
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to make Chocolate Cherry Chunk Brownies
- Prepare brownies mix with the water, vegetable oil and eggs that it calls for on the box. (Every box can vary slightly) Bake as directed on the box. Let cool completely.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl combine butter, powdered sugar, and 3 Tablespoons of juice from the maraschino cherries.
- Beat until smooth and creamy.
- Remove all of the cherries from the jar and chop.
- Fold in the chopped cherries and chocolate chips into the batter.
- Spread over the top of cooled brownies.
- Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to let the cherry layer set up well.
- Melt chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stir, and repeat for 30 more seconds. Continue to do this until chocolate is smooth and melted.
- Spread over cherry-chocolate layer. Spread quickly because it will tend to set up when it hits the cold cherry layer.
- Let set up until hardened (stick in the fridge if you need them set up faster) and then cut and serve.
Storage Suggestions
If you manage to have any leftover Bars + Brownies, these can store well if prepped appropriately. Once they have cooled completely, here is how you can store it:
- Refrigerator: Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Let them come to room temperature before serving for the best texture and flavor.
- Freezer: To freeze, make sure bars and brownies are completely cooled and unfrosted. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap (or Press & Seal) and then place in a freezer-safe bag or container. For easier portioning, wrap individual squares before freezing. Don’t forget to label with the date. They’ll stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Enjoy More Delicious Brownies Recipes
There’s nothing better than an easy brownie or bar recipe. Check out our comprehensive list of brownies, bars, and blondies here.
Chocolate Cherry Chunk Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 21 ounces Betty Crocker Supreme brownie mix
- 3 Tablespoon water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
Cherry Layer:
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 10 ounces maraschino cherries, (reserve juice)
Chocolate Layer:
- 2 ¼ cup milk chocolate chips, or semi-sweet
- ¾ cup butter
Instructions
- Prepare brownies mix with the water, vegetable oil and eggs that it calls for on the box. (Every box can vary slightly) Bake as directed on the box. Let cool completely.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl combine butter, powdered sugar, and 3 Tablespoons of juice from the maraschino cherries.
- Beat until smooth and creamy.
- Remove all of the cherries from the jar and chop.
- Fold in the chopped cherries and chocolate chips into the batter.
- Spread over the top of cooled brownies.
- Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to let the cherry layer set up well.
- Melt chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stir, and repeat for 30 more seconds. Continue to do this until chocolate is smooth and melted.
- Spread over cherry-chocolate layer. Spread quickly because it will tend to set up when it hits the cold cherry layer.
- Let set up until hardened (stick in the fridge if you need them set up faster) and then cut and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
I had chocolate and cherries on my mind today too! These brownies look killer!
These look amazing! Cherry Garcia is my absolute favorite Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream ever- I must make these soon! Thanks for the recipe.
http://reminisceering.blogspot.com/
These are my kind of brownies! I Love Cherries and any recipe that they are in. I could definitely eat the cherry layer with a spoon!
Uuuummm no words come to mind at the moment other than YUM!!!
Ok, maybe a few more like amazing, delicious, you are awesome!!! You get the point.
(I’m pretty sure I would be eating that frosting with a spoon too:-)
looks so delicious
My husband loves chocolate covered cherries. I plan on making this for him for Valentine’s Day dessert. Thanks!!
Wow, these look delicious! I love chocolate covered cherries…AND brownies! Thank you for making me fatter. ;0)
Oh my goodness! Those look so yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
this looks AAAAAmazing. we have our first linky party.. will you link up with us?
-new follower
OMG! I don’t want to know how many calories are in these things….but oh.my.goodness they look sinful!!!! YUM!
Chocolate and cherries = delicious! Happy Friday!!
Pinned! Thanks ladies!
YUMMY! I’d love for you to link up at Do Something Crafty Friday: http://www.seevanessacraft.com
These look ridiculously delicious! If you’re interested, I’d love to see you link up at Sharing Time! http://www.raisingmemories.com/search/label/sharing%20time
Have a lovely day ladies!
~Heather
i tried these today and they did not come out looking like this!! 🙁 the cherry filling absorbed the top layer and everything became soggy! suggestions?
Totally agree with the previous poster…mine turned out awful. Super runny and the butter ratio seemed to be off to me (and it wouldnt mix in with the cherry juice). I tried adding more sugar but it still wouldn’t work 🙁
Mine came out just about perfect. Here is what I changed:
1.Use 3 T juice for the icing (more juice will come from the chopped cherries as they are worked in to the icing).
2. Freeze for about an hour after the cherry layer is added (it needs to be really cold so the warm chocolate doesn’t melt the cherry layer).
3. Finally, every person who tried this agreed it was way too much chocolate on top, (I followed the recipe exactly) it was thicker than a Hershey bar! Next time I would use half the chocolate and have either a thin layer on top or just a really pretty drizzle. Since there is chocolate in every layer I sincerely doubt it would be missed. Hope this helps
I disliked these strongly. My mother asked me to make these on a whim since they looked so good. Needless to say, they were nasty. The chocolate was way over the top in quantity and the frosting was too sweet. No one in my family liked them even though we’re all huge chocolate covered cherry fans. Waste of energy and money. I won’t be making these again.
I just made these last night for a gingerbread house decorating party we had last night … seriously AMAZING! Everyone couldn’t get enough of them!!!! As Karli mentioned aboved, the top chocolate layer was too thick (that didn’t stop anyone from gobbling them up though!). Next time I will make a very thin layer of chocolate on top.
A FANTASTIC RECIPE! THANKS SO MUCH!!!! 🙂
I made these last night and they turned out really well! I did make some changes though after reading other comments.
1. For the cherry layer, I used 10 ounces of cherries, 3 tablespoons of juice, and I taste tested as I added the powdered sugar and decided to stop at 3 cups. It tastes like cherry frosting, not Cherry Garcia, to me though.
2. I only made 2/3 of the top chocolate layer (1/2 c butter and 1 1/2 c chocolate chips). And I put the pan in the freezer before added the top layer so it didn’t melt the cherry layer. I think it was probably easier to cut them while they were frozen as well.
I made them for a bake sale, so I haven’t heard what others thought of them yet, but I thought they were delicious!
These look amazing!
~Steph @ Silver Boxes
I love chocolate and cherries together! Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
These look sooooo good, and I appreciate all of the different tips from those who have already made them. Thank you so much for linking up at the City of Motherly Love’s weekly linky party. I really appreciate it 🙂
http://cityofmotherlylove.blogspot.com
Chocolate + Cherries is such a YUMMY combo!! Thanks for the awesome recipe 🙂 Pinning!
These looks so great and just in time for Valentine’s Day! Thanks for linking up with us this week!
You know, the chocolate cherry combo has only been appealing to me in choc covered cherries. My dad, however, is a fanatic. I think he’d really enjoy this! 🙂
Ok, so you so HAVE to make some for me!! They look sooooooo good!!!! YUMMY!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing this at The DIY Dreamer… From Dream To Reality! I’m looking forward to seeing what you link up this evening! 🙂
These were a big hit with a few changes.
I simmered all the juice from the maraschino cherry bottle to reduce it to 5 T. This concentrated the flavor and kept the frosting layer from being runny. I cooled the juice before adding it to one stick (1/2 cup) of butter. Halving the butter was unintentional, but it turned out great.
For the chocolate layer, I used all the chocolate, but only 1/2 cup butter. It was a thick layer of chocolate, but no one complained. Next time, I might just add more chocolate to the cherry layer or sprinkle chocolate chips over it instead of doing the melted chocolate layer.
I cooled the brownies overnight before adding the cherry layer. I also let the cherry layer harden a bit before adding the chocolate. This was sufficient for February, but I imagine they cherry and chocolate layers would be a gooey mess in a warmer month.
Wow! That was WAY TOO SWEET!!! Love most of your recipes, but this one was grossly sweet and we normally love chocolate cherry combos. Waste of energy, time and food. 😕
This was delicious. Really rich! Perfect flavor and texture combinations. My layer of chocolate was very thick, almost double the picture size. Did I use the wrong size pan? I could have halved the chocolate topping. I will do that next time! Thanks for the great recipe!