Something had me thinking about chocolate covered cherries the other day. I thought, if I used dark chocolate, they wouldn’t be too bad for you, like at the Holidays. Then it dawned on me that they are made with Maraschino Cherries, and not just fresh ones.

It got me to wondering if I could make my own Marachino Cherries. They would have to be better for you than ones wth tons of artificial ingredients in them that you would pick up at the store, not to mention I would be able to control the sugar content.

I scoured the web and found a recipe!

I was so excited, I went out and bought more cherries to add to the ones I had already picked up at The Farmers Market.

I was doubly excited because I got to try out the cherry pitter that I just bought when we went to Savannah the weekend before.

Isn’t it just the cutest? You just put the cherry in his mouth and push his head down to chomp the pit. Once his belly is full of pits, you empty it.

Its the greatest!!

It only took me like 45 minutes to pit nearly 5 pounds of cherries!

The process is a hurry up and wait kind of thing that spreads out over nearly two days, but its worth it!

When I poured the juice over the cherries in the jars, I knew it was a success! When I finally got to sample them? WOW! They are so much better than store bought ones! I don’t know, but the texture of the store bought ones are almost artificial – my Mom called them waxy, and I think that is pretty accurate. These taste more natural, juicier and with the texture more like a fresh cherry. This will become a canning staple for my summers, for sure!

About 4 pounds of cherries (which the recipe calls for) makes about 8 pints or 4 quarts of Maraschino Cherries, or a combination of the two, like mine – 6 pints and 1 quart.

By the way, if you wanted to use just 2 1/3 cups of sugar instead of the sugar/Splenda blend, you will still be saving a ton of calories and sugar from the original recipe, which called for 10 1/8 cups of the stuff! Yikes! Trust me, you never miss it in the finished product, either!

If you have access to a lot of cherries while they are in season right now, you really need to give this a try!

Homemade Maraschino Cherries

adapted  from  about.com

• 1 Tablespoon  salt
• 4-1/2 pounds pitted sweet cherries
• 1 1/3 c. sugar and 1 c. splenda
• 3 1/2 cups water
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 ounce red food coloring
• 1 ounce almond extract

Bring 2 quarts of water and salt to  a boil, stirring until salt is dissolved. Let cool for 10 minutes, then pour over pitted cherries.  Cover and let sit 12 hours or overnight.

Drain cherries, discarding brine, and rinse in cold water. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine 3 1/3 cups of water, sugar, lemon juice, and red food coloring. Bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, and remove from heat. Pour over cherries, cover, and let stand for 24 hours.

Drain cherries, reserving juice. Set  cherries aside. Bring reserved juice to a boil again. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Pour juice over cherries.

Pack cherries with juice in hot sterilized jars and seal according to manufacturer’s recommendations. Place in a water bath canner and process 20 minutes for pint jars or 25 minutes for quart jars.