My version of Maraschino Cherries will not qualify as a “health” food, but I share them because I created this recipe to replace the overly-processed chemical-filled version available on the commercial market.

Part of mindful eating is paying attention to what is on every spoon or fork you put in your mouth. In that way, this much simpler replacement for commercial Maraschino Cherries fits in nicely with the concept of making small changes to the way you think about your food.

I needed this recipe to use in my Italian Almond Cookie Overnight Oats recipe, but these cherries work great in any recipe, cocktail or dessert. And the juice works equally well as a sweetener substitute where you want a burst of cherry flavor. Again, just don’t think of it as “healthy”… maybe just “healthy”-er.

Ingredients (makes 25-30 cherries)

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 25-30 sweet black cherries, pitted
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

The Simple (Syrup) Solution

Combine the equal parts water and granulated sugar in a saucepan over medium heat on your stove top. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, creating a simple syrup.

Remove from heat, stir in the tablespoon of lemon juice, and the teaspoons of vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside.

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This Part is the Pits

The worst part, by far, of the whole process is pitting the cherries. I finally found a cherry pitter on Amazon of which I’m quite fond which makes quick work of the whole process, even though it does tend to shoot the cherry stones around a bit.

Feel free to use whatever method of pit removal you prefer. But typically the amount of liquid we’ve prepared should accommodate at least 25-30 cherries. I think you could push it and go up to 40 cherries but honestly I feel like it’s best if there’s room in the jar for them to move around.

If anyone tries, successfully, a much larger number of cherries, please let me know and I’ll revise this.

Once you’ve done the dirty work, put the pitted cherries in a container with a tight seal. A glass jar is preferable so you can easily check on their progress.

Once done, pour the slightly cooled syrup over the cherries and seal the jar. Refrigerate.

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The Waiting is the (2nd) Hardest Part

After several attempts, I’ve found that 72 hours (three days) is the amount of time the cherries require to take on the desired flavor and texture.

Typically I’ll test one cherry each day. Since they’re cherries dipped in flavored sugar water, they’ll taste good immediately, of course. However, you’ll very much notice the difference from day to day.

You’ll also notice the color of the “syrup” darkening each day. That third dark dark red color is another indication that they’re ready… and another reason why I recommend preparing these in a glass jar.

Once they’re ready, I’ve used them and the syrup for 7-10 days. I’m not sure why you couldn’t let it go a bit longer, but for me, that seems like the right amount of time for something open in the refrigerator without preservatives.

A Final Note

A quick note/apology. Unlike my other recipes, you’ll note that there isn’t a printable “recipe” for these cherries. That is because I really have no confident way to assess their nutritional value. Yes, if someone were to eat all 30 cherries and drink the whole jar of syrup then we could measure very precisely the calories and other impacts. But short of that, how to determine the caloric value per cherry… when most of the ingredients remain in the jar, is complete guess work.

When I use these in recipes, for example, I simply use the values for the black cherries themselves, and then add, say, 1 tsp of sugar per 4-5 cherries. That seems a reasonable estimate.