Here is the original recipe:

2 cups flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used Almond instead)

Sift dry ingredients together, set aside. Cream shortening and both sugars well. Add egg and extract and beat until light and fluffy. Blend in dry ingredients just until well combined; will be a little crumbly, but will come together when you form the logs. Divide dough into 2 equal parts ( this is where I added the melted chocolate to half and chopped cherries to half of the white half.) Place on waxed paper and shape into rolls 1-1/2" in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper. Chill thoroughly several hours. Preheat oven to 425° Cut logs into slices about 1/8" thick and place on ungreased cookie sheets (I used Parchment Paper anyway.) Bake 6 - 8 minutes. Since the checkerboards were smaller they baked for 6 minutes, the cherry spirals baked for 7. Not the prettiest cookies I've ever made but they are rather tasty.

Edie, I was also thinking like Nancy with adding cocoa powder and adjusting the flour. If you do, the following might be helpful. I'm not very good with the science of baking, so I just copied it all. Sorry if this is way more than you need! Also, since your recipe calls for baking powder, I would try using a Dutch-processed cocoa powder since it's more neutral. If I remember right, natural cocoa powder is acidic, so it tends to be paired with baking soda, but there are variations.

"When modifying a recipe to add cocoa powder, start by removing a couple of tablespoons of flour and replacing it with cocoa powder. This may not seem like much, but cocoa is intense chocolate flavor. You can always add another tablespoon or two if you like, but keep in mind that you want the chocolate flavor to balance the sugar in the recipe, and the more cocoa you add, the more sugar and moisture you’ll need as well. Cocoa powder is like a sponge, sucking up moisture, and if you don’t adjust for its presence, you’ll end up with a dry pastry. If adding more than a couple of tablespoons, you’ll want to add a couple additional tablespoons of liquid, as well."

Thanks so much. These are going with us for Thanksgiving but I am going to try again for Christmas and I will try the flour substitution. Since I made both from one dough batch I will have to make 2 batches but that's OK. It's a learning thing. Never too old to learn!

"Never too old to learn!"

Edie, I like the way you think! FWIW, maybe look at this recipe from Martha Stewart for making the chocolate dough.

https://www.marthastewart.com/319056/holiday-icebox-cookies

Thanks Chloebud! I've saved the recipe. Mine will never look that perfect but it's fun to pretend they will

Edie, I often do that kind of pretending! ;-)