Joanna Gaines's Old-School Treat Is Holiday Dessert Heaven

My grandmothers taught me the value of a well-timed treat. They stocked candy dishes with foil-wrapped Andes crème de menthe, and it wasn't Christmas without paper-thin sand tart cookies and cream cheese-frosted red velvet cake. At the end of their lives, I'm pretty sure they were lovingly sneaking me chocolate pudding and Hershey's Miniatures when my parents weren't looking.

Having lived within "pop-in" distance from both of them as a kid, I remember feeling beyond stuffed after a meal, and hearing my grandma ask, "Who wants dessert?" Like shimmering diamonds in a field of baked potatoes, the question creates the possibility that we haven't even gotten to the best part.

What Are Aunt Mary's Cherry Mashers?

Whatever you call a sweet tooth soulmate, Joanna Gaines is here for it. We all remember the fresh-baked cookies featured in her client meetings and kitchen reveals on Fixer Upper. (No wonder everyone loved her designs—put a plate of brownies on it, and I'm in.)

Her holiday recipe edition of Magnolia Journal is packed with old-fashioned treats, and I'm especially enamored by her Aunt Mary's Cherry Mashers on page 95. (I remember Joanna revealing her love for cherry desserts on an episode of Magnolia Table.) If you want to bring the party to your holiday table, and you love the chocolate-cherry combo, just wait until you taste this whopper of an old-school dessert.

How I Make Cherry Mashers

Line a sheet pan with parchment, and chop the cherries and peanuts (I blitzed the latter in my food processor). In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to gently incorporate the Betty Crocker frosting mix, powdered sugar, softened margarine, cherries, vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk. Once the mix looks moist, turn the speed up to medium and whip for a few minutes until pink and fluffy. Using a cookie scoop, line the sheet pan with one-inch balls, and freeze for two hours to set.

For the chocolate coating—that's totally giving homemade Ferrero Rocher, but with peanuts—melt the chocolate bark, chocolate chips, and vegetable oil in a medium pan until smooth, then stir in the chopped peanuts. Next, take the cherry balls from the freezer, dip them one at a time into the chocolate, and return them to the parchment. Set the sheet pan in the fridge for 20 minutes. At this point, they're ready to serve.

Aunt Mary must have been a champion cherry masher maker because transferring the chocolate-coated balls to the parchment was a little more challenging than I imagined. Yes, my cookie scoop was a little big, and my coating was probably too thick, but a few colorful sprinkles on top and my treats were ready for their closeup—and all the compliments from my taste testers!

I used the margarine from Magnolia's official recipe, but on an episode of Magnolia Table, Joanna instead used six tablespoons of softened butter. Since margarine can contain less fat and more water than it did back in the day, next time I'll try butter to see if it holds its structure a little better. If your cherry mixture feels too soft to form balls, chilling in the freezer for a couple of hours makes it scoop-able.

When it comes to sweetness, Aunt Mary wasn't messing around; these mashers pinch your cheeks. But I'm not milling around the dessert buffet, telling cherry mashers to be something other than they are; bite-sized gems of sweet, chocolate-cherry heaven.