Chocolate Chip Cherry Loaf..

My youngest kiddo and I were brainstorming, trying to figure out something yummy to make for Valentine's Day. 

I wanted something with cherries and chocolate. She wanted something pink.

I decided on a Chocolate Chip Cherry Loaf.. That fit my want. Originally, I figured that I could add cherry juice to my batter and it would tint the batter pink, fitting my youngest kiddie's want. That didn't quite work out as well as I hoped. In person, it DOES have a bit of a pink tint to it, but just barely. And it's not noticeable at all in my picures. BUT, my kiddo loved the flecks of cherry throughout, so in the end, she was happy. 

If you want it more pink, I'm sure you could just add a couple drops of red food coloring. I didn't feel like digging through my cabinet to find mine, tho, which is why I hoped the cherry juice would work. (Hmmm... looks like it's time to jump back into decluttering, uh?)

Color issue aside, everything came together beautifully. This makes two loaves, so we had one to send to work with daddy for him and his coworkers, and one for us at home. 

I will most definitely be making this again. 

• 1/2 cup butter PLUS 2 Tbsp, melted
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Small jar (8 to 10 oz) of Maraschino cherries
• 12 oz bag of chocolate chips
• Powdered sugar to top (optional) 

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Grease two 8x4" loaf pans and set aside. 
2. Pour the cherry juice into a measuring cup. If you have less than 1/2 cup, go ahead and add a tiny bit of water til it reaches 1/2 cup. Set aside. Chop cherries into pieces and set aside. 
3. In a medium bowl, beat the melted (and cooled!) butter and sugar together. Add the two eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts. Beat till combined. 
4. In a separate bowl, mix together your flour and baking powder. 
5. Take about 1 Tbsp of the flour mixture and put into a small bowl with the bag of chocolate chips. Mix together. (This will help keep your chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.)
6. Add half of your flour mixture to your butter/sugar mixture. Beat together. Add half of your cherry juice. Beat together. Add remaining flour and cherry juice and beat one last time. 
7. Add your chocolate chips and cherry pieces and mix well with a spoon. Pour into loaf pans and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or till it passes the handy dandy toothpick test.
8. Cool in pans then sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
9. Slice and eat. YUM!!

I hope you give this a try and that you love this as much as we do.