Makes 42 cookie dough balls about 1 Tablespoon size

Additional ingredients for baking day:

42 jarred maraschino cherries

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

4t reserved cherry juice from the maraschino cherry jar

How to freeze:

1. Chill dough in fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 3-4 days.

2. Remove from fridge and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.

3. Roll dough in balls, about 1 Tablespoon each, and place on cookie sheet next to each other. Cover cookie sheet and return to freezer to chill until firm, at least an hour.

4. Remove cookie sheet from freezer and place dough balls into the labeled gallon bag; zip shut removing as much air as possible and place in freezer for up to 3 months.

How to bake:

1. While cookies thaw for 30 minutes at room temperature, drain the cherries reserving the juice.

2. Make the chocolate fudge topping on the stove top by combining the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk on low heat; cook and stir until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and stir in 4t cherry juice reserved from the jar. Set aside

3. Place the dough balls three inches apart on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.

4. Using your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon, press an indent into the center of the cookie.

5. Place one cherry in the indent of each cookie.

6. Spoon 1 teaspoon of chocolate fudge sauce over the cherry and use the back of the spoon to lightly smooth the chocolate and seal the edges around the cherry. If chocolate is too thick, thin it with a little more cherry juice.

7. Bake at 350 for about 9-10 minutes until edges are just set. *Reduce time by one minute if baking from fresh.

8. Remove from oven and allow cookies to sit on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Keep cookies covered in fridge to retain freshness up to 1 week.