Alexis Bremer of St. Joseph will make about 1,000 of her chocolate-covered cherry cookies before Christmas. It only took 12 tiny ones for her to be declared the winner of the 2008 News-Press Holiday Candy Recipe Contest.

Of course, she had to make a dozen more for the photo.

“I just made 120 of these bad boys,” she says, handing over a red box filled with her winning entry. “I have a Christmas party at work.”

Of all the entries, Ms. Bremer’s won by a landslide. For those people who would argue that the winning entry isn’t really candy, the judges (myself included) disagree. Dainty and rich (and chocolate, which impressed the judges), the cherry-topped cookies tasted more like candy. Really good candy. One bite was all it took to finish it off. You can’t do that with most cookies.

“They’re very easy to make,” Ms. Bremer says.

The chocolate cookie is topped with a brandy-laced filling, which is crowned with a maraschino cherry. Melted chocolate is then drizzled over the top.

“The combination of flavors was quite dazzling,” another judge says. “The chocolate wasn’t too sweet, and the cookie was just right.”

The judges weren’t the only ones impressed with Ms. Bremer’s entry. Besides those 1,000 she’ll make for the holidays (Christmas gifts for her co-workers), she also makes several batches as birthday gifts for some of her co-workers.

The chocolate-covered cherry cookies aren’t an original recipe. Like many cooks — and past recipe contest winners — Ms. Bremer found the recipe in a magazine. She then started experimenting, changing something here and adding something else there. One change she made was to decrease the amount of eggs the original recipe called for.

“I added a little more of the brandy,” she says of another change she made.

And that brandy helps give the cookies a distinctive taste. That, and the cherry.

“The cherry is a big part,” she says.

One judge says that neither the cherry nor the chocolate was overwhelming. A couple of the other judges agree that even when removing the cherry (not everyone likes them), the entry was still a winner.

Ms. Bremer says she’ll probably use her $100 grand prize to purchase the ingredients for her annual baking day. An avid cook, she schedules a day-long baking session with family and friends as the holidays approach. And it’s probably a good bet she’ll be mixing up several batches of those chocolate-covered cherry cookies. Now, she can add award-winning to the name.

Lifestyles reporter Cathy Woolridge can be reached at cathyw@npgco.com

Chocolate-covered cherry cookies

Cookies:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 egg yolks

1½ cups flour

1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

Sugar, if desired

Filling:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon brandy or 1/2 teaspoon brandy extract

1 cup powdered sugar

Topping:

36 maraschino cherries with or without stems, drained on paper towels

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon oil

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup butter, the vanilla and egg yolks until light and fluffy. Add flour and cocoa and beat until well combined. Shape rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into 1-inch balls. Coat with sugar and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With index finger, make indentation in the center of each cookie. Bake for seven to nine minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat all filling ingredients until smooth. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoonful of filling in the center of each cooled cookie. Press cherry into filling. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips with oil over low heat, stirring constantly. Spoon or drizzle melted chocolate over cherry on each cookie. Let stand until chocolate is set.

— Alexis Bremer, St. Joseph