Chocolate Peanut Butter Cherries - maraschino

Method

• Remove the cherries from the cherry liquid and allow them to air dry for several hours or overnight. Do not rinse or dry with a paper towel as you want them to become sticky as they dry.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine peanut butter, icing sugar, crisp rice cereal, walnuts, and butter. Mix until well combined. Mixture will seem slightly dry. Use your hands to roll a ball of peanut butter mixture that is about 1" in diameter. The heat from your hands will warm up the butter and peanut butter and make the mixture stick together. Flatten the ball in the palm of your hands and place the dry cherry in the center of the flattened peanut butter. Carefully wrap the peanut butter mixture around the cherry, ensuring that you seal any cracks or holes. Continue until all the cherries are covered. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• In the top of a double boiler, melt the milk chocolate over low, slow heat stirring occasionally. Holding the stem, carefully dip your cherry into the milk chocolate, ensuring that you coat the entire outside of the peanut butter mixture. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet to dry.
• Once all the cherries are covered with the milk chocolate, melt the white chocolate. Holding the stem, carefully dip the cherry into the white chocolate at an angle to coat half of the cherry. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet to dry.
• Note: Do not use chocolate chips for dipping as the added fat in the chocolate chips will not set the chocolate properly at room temperature. Use only quality baking chocolate or melting wafers.