Chocolate Cherry Bars

These are so rich tasting!

Chocolate Cherry Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 cup cold, salted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 21-ounce can cherry-pie filling
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and cocoa.
Cut in butter until crumbly. Add egg and almond extract
until blended; set aside 1 cup of this mixture for topping.

Press remaining crumb mixture into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan.

Carefully top with pie filling.

Combine chocolate chips, almonds, and reserved crumb mixture;
sprinkle over pie filling.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick
inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool and refrigerate for at least two hours before cutting into bars.

Choco-Cherry Dot Cookies

Choco-Cherry Dot Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 tsp. cherry extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 drops of red food coloring
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. maraschino cherries, drained and chopped (can use candied cherries
instead)
48 cherry cordial flavored chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine confectioners'
sugar, butter, cherry and almond extracts and food coloring; blend well.
Stir in flour and salt until well combined. Fold in chopped cherries. Form
dough into 1-inch balls, and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie
sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly brown around
edges. Remove from oven and immediately press a cherry-flavored chocolate
kiss in top of each cookie. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool. Makes 4
dozen cookies.

*For extra chocolate flavor you can add 1/2 c. of mini chocolate chips (or
to taste) to your cookie dough mixture.

Submitted by: Krisanne Hickman of TN

Cherry Almond Snack Mix

Cherry-Almond Snack Mix

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins Rest Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins

Ingredients
4 cup(s) cereal, sweetened oat squares
1/2 cup nuts, almonds, sliced
2 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
dash salt
1 cup cherries, dried

Nutritional Info (per serving):
Calories: 82, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 58mg, Dietary Fiber:
1g, Total Fat: 3g, Carbs: 12g, Cholesterol: 3mg, Protein: 2g
Exchanges: Other Carb: 1 , Fat: 0.5 , carb choices: 1

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 300°F. In a 15x10x1-inch baking pan, combine
cereal and almonds. In a small bowl, stir together melted butter
, apple pie spice, and salt. Drizzle butter mixture over cereal
mixture; toss to coat evenly.

2. Bake about 20 minutes or until almonds are toasted, stirring
once during baking. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
Stir in dried cherries or raisins. Cool completely.
Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for
up to 1 week.

Black Forest Parfait

Black Forest Parfait (shared by Linda June Fritz)
Real Food for Real People
Serves 6

3 ozs Neufchatel Cheese or cream cheese
2 cups cold milk
1 pkg (3 oz) sugar-free chocolate pudding and pie filling
1 tbsp cornstarch
16 ozs cherries in water, reserve juice
6 packets Equal or Splenda

Blend cream cheese with 1/4 cup milk on low speed of electric mixer, until smooth. Add remaining milk and pudding mix. Mix 1 or 2 minutes or until smooth. Mix cornstarch in 1/3 cup of reserved cherry juice until dissolved. Add to cherries and cook until it boils for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in Equal or Splenda. Alternately spoon pudding and cherries into parfait dishes, ending with pudding. Garnish with 2 cherries.

165 Calories;6g Fat;5g Protein;24g Carbs;1g Fiber;22mg Chol;174mg Sodium