chocolate thumbprint cookies

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are soft, chewy Christmas chocolate cookies topped with peppermint Hershey kisses. Perfect for cookie exchanges!

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

tbsp (140 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

(112 grams) brown sugar, lightly packed

(104 grams) sugar, plus 3 tbsp for rolling

tsp vanilla extract

(163 grams) all purpose flour

(57 grams) natural unsweetened cocoa powder

tsp baking soda

tsp salt

26-28 Candy Cane Hershey’s Kisses

Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2

. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

. Cream butter and sugars (minus the 3 tablespoons of sugar for rolling) together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated and thick.

. Roll one tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. (NOTE: If you make larger balls of cookie dough, the cookies will spread more.)

. Put the 3 additional tablespoons of sugar into a small bowl and roll each ball of cookie dough in it, coating the ball fully, then place the cookie dough balls on the lined cookie sheet.

. Remove the cookies from the oven and press an unwrapped hershey kiss into the top center of each cookie. Allow cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes, the remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

Made these cookies this afternoon.  They are so, so good! Just the perfect amount of flavor.  We’re planning to make 200 of this recipe for a gathering to support area foster children.   One question though - the cookies came out much flatter than those in your pictures.  Do you think it would help to refrigerate the dough balls before baking?  Does making the thumb imprint ahead of baking (per your blog) somehow help the cookies not flatten?  The thumb print prior to baking was the only thing we didn’t do. 

These look soooooooooo pretty! I am totally making these at some point! Just one question, does th indent you add before baking change the way it bakes or looks? I just wanted to let you know that these cookies are so cute! Thank you!
-Hannah

A decadent chocolate thumbprint cookie rolled in crunchy pecans, filled with caramel and finished with a chocolate drizzle. The perfect holiday cookie!

Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

all-purpose flour

cocoa powder

unsalted butter (, softened)

sugar

light-brown sugar

buttermilk

pecans

caramels ((such as Kraft))

heavy cream

Flaky or coarse sea salt

milk chocolate chocolate

tsp shortening

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high spread until slightly pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg yolk (set egg white aside in a bowl in refrigerator) and vanilla extract.

Blend in buttermilk. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Shape dough into a ball and drop onto a sheet of plastic wrap, flatten dough into a 6-inch disk then wrap with plastic wrap and chill 45 minutes, until slightly firm (or up to 1 day. If chilling longer than a few hours, I&#039;d recommend letting the dough rest a room temperature a bit so the dough isn&#039;t too firm and cracking when making indentations).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove egg white from refrigerator and whisk vigorously until frothy. Place finely chopped pecans in a bowl.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls (18 grams each) then working with one at a time, drop into egg white and roll to evenly coat the lift and allow excess egg white to run off and immediately place in bowl with chopped pecans and roll to evenly coat (if necessary, you can gently press into the nuts to help them stick).

Transfer to parchment paper lined baking sheets and make a deep indentation with thumb in the center of each dough ball.

Bake in preheated oven until set, about 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from oven then using the bottom of a rounded teaspoon, gently press down on existing indentation (to create more space for caramel). Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the topping:

Place caramels and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat mixture in microwave on HIGH power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Spoon caramel into indentation in cookies and sprinkle tops with a small pinch of sea salt.

Place chocolate and shortening into a separate microwave safe mixing bowl. Heat mixture on 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Pour into a piping bag or ziplog bag and cut tip of corner. Drizzle over cookies. Allow to set then store in an airtight container.

I added about 1/2 tsp peppermint extract to the batter.  My son said I now have to make these every year at Christmas.

Delicious! My 1" cookie balls made 70 cookies so make sure you have lots of unwrapped kisses on hand!  I put mine in the freezer before baking the cookies and they kept their shape when pushed into the hot cookies.

Make this Thumbprint Cookies recipe when you’re craving a chocolate cherry delight! Chocolate thumbprint cookies are perfect for dessert!

Thumbprint Cookies (Cherry Chocolate Recipe)

unsalted butter (softened)

brown sugar

eggs

vanilla extract

baking powder

salt

semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

chocolate almond bark

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.

Beat in eggs one at a time then add the vanilla.

In a small bowl, combine unbleached flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Dough will be thick and crumbly. You may have to use your hands to get it to come together.

Fold in semi-sweet mini chocolate chips.

Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, create cookie balls and place them 1” apart on the baking sheet.

Use the end of a large baking spoon or spatula to create a hole in the middle of each cookie.

Put some pie filling in each hole and then top with one cherry.

Bake for 10-11 minutes. Cookies will look set and will continue baking on the baking sheet (do not over bake).

Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet.

While cooling, heat chocolate almond bark in a microwave safe bowl in 20-30 second increments until melted completely (stirring between each).

Drizzle chocolate over cherry thumbprint cookies and let cool completely.

loved this recipe! so easy to make and the cookies turned out delicious! thanks, Donna and Chad!

These double chocolate thumbprint cookies feature a rich chocolate base filled with smooth, creamy ganache.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

cornstarch

unsalted butter, room temperature

chocolate

semi-sweet chocolate (finely chopped, to decorate)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder and salt until fully combined.

In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar. Beat until smooth and creamy then add the egg and beat again until fully combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold together until a soft dough has formed.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Use your hands or a cookie scoop to pull off sections from the dough. Roll into small balls the size of a tablespoon and set them on the baking sheets leaving some space in between. Use your thumb to press an indent into the center of each dough ball.

Put the baking sheets with the prepared cookies into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the baking sheets onto the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Use a measuring spoon to gently press the indents back into shape.

Cookies

Put the finely chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Pour the cream into a small saucepan set over medium heat. As soon as the cream starts to steam and form tiny bubbles remove it from the heat and pour it over the chopped chocolate.

Put a plate on top of the bowl and leave it for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes gently stir the cream and chocolate until smooth. It should look like a glossy, thick ganache (if not see notes for troubleshooting ganache).

Transfer the ganache to a piping bag and cut the end off with scissors. Fill each cookie with the ganache.

To decorate, scatter over the chopped chocolate or add festive sprinkles.

Ganache filling

Decadent and chewy chocolate cookies filled with a rich, silky chocolate ganache - they are delicious, easy and so fun!

Best Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

unsalted butter

sugar (200 grams)

vanilla

all purpose flour (195 grams)

Dutch processed cocoa powder (50 grams)

tsp baking powder

semi-sweet chocolate

heavy cream (about 1/3 cup)

freeze strawberries

Whisk the softened butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until the mixture looks really light and fluffy, scraping the bowl at least twice in the middle

Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and whisk again until the ingredients are combined. Scrape the bowl again

Sift and mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2-3 batches, folding gently with a rubber spatula. Try not to overmix the dough and stop as soon as the dry ingredients are combined. The result should be a soft but workable cookie dough

Line 1-2 large baking sheets with parchment paper

Shape the cookie dough into 25g balls, about 1&#8243; in diameter each. This should make about ~26 balls. Use minimal pressure to make the balls and remove any cracks from the surface, but don&#8217;t over work them as that will cause them to become greasy

Place the balls on the lined baking sheets, keeping about 2&#8243; between each

Use the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measure (or something of similar size; it should be a round shape that is smaller than the size of the cookie ball) to press &#8220;thumbprints&#8221; into each cookie ball. This will also naturally flatten each ball slightly. You can use your thumbs but it is easier and more consistent with a spoon measure

Place the sheets in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes (or ~15 min in the freezer). In the meanwhile, work on the chocolate ganache (see below)

In the last 15 minutes of chilling, pre-heat the oven to 375F (conventional, no fan)

Once the cookie balls have chilled and oven has pre-heated, bake the cookies for ~9-11 minutes. 9 min will yield softer, chewier cookies while they will be firmer at 11 minutes. I baked mine for 10 minutes, and strongly recommend baking one cookie as a test first

As soon as the cookies are out of the oven and are still hot, use a larger spoon measure (like 1 tbsp) to press down gently on the cookies again. They puff up and partly lose the thumbprint in the oven, so this step helps bring it back

Let them cool at room temperature for 10 minutes

Chocolate Cookies:

Add the chopped chocolate / chips to a bowl

Heat the cream until it just starts to simmer. Pour over the chocolate, making sure the chocolate is covered in the cream. Cover and wait 5 minutes

Gently stir until the chocolate fully melts and a smooth, shiny chocolate ganache forms. Let it cool and thicken up at room temperature while you bake the cookies

Chocolate Ganache:

Once the cookies and ganache have both cooled down, fill each cookie generously with the ganache. I just do this with a spoon

Let them rest for ~30 or so minutes so the ganache can set more

Decorate however you like; I used crushed freeze dried strawberries

Assembly &amp; serving:

Hi Zoha! My family and I are SET for the holidays with these delicious recipes you’ve been releasing. These cookies were PERFECT. Thank you!!!

I tried them and they turned out soo good!

Delicious! Thank you for the wonderful and easy recipe.  I’m thinking of making them for a party tomorrow, can I freeze the unbaked cookies and bake them tomorrow?

The cookies came out yummy but my ganache was pretty bitter. it also was mostly on the liquidy side- was it supposed to firm up at all?

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/kXyOcsS7.mp4

How to make the best chocolate thumbprint cookies: decadent, chocolatey and chewy filled with a rich, silky chocolate ganache

Top 6 chocolate thumbprint cookies recipes from across the web

The most viewed chocolate thumbprint cookies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Coo...

Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Co...

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Coo...

Thumbprint Cookies (Cherry Chocolat...

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Best Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies R...

Top 6 chocolate thumbprint cookies recipes from across the web

The most viewed chocolate thumbprint cookies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Coo...

Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Co...

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Coo...

Thumbprint Cookies (Cherry Chocolat...

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Best Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies R...

The most viewed chocolate thumbprint cookies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine