Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints
Chocolate thumbprint cookies filled with chewy caramel and drizzled with dark chocolate for a festive touch.
Ingredients
all-purpose flour
2 cups
Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ cup
salt
½ teaspoon
unsalted butter (softened)
16 tablespoons (2 sticks)
sugar
1¼ cups
large egg
1
large egg yolk
1
pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon
caramels (about 5.5 ounces, unwrapped, for Caramel Filling)
20
heavy (or whipping) cream (for Caramel Filling)
¼ cup
bittersweet chocolate (chopped, for Chocolate Drizzle)
4½ ounces
Instructions
1
Mix dough
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add the sugar and beat well until fluffy. Beat in the whole egg and egg yolk. Mix in the vanilla. With the beaters on low speed, mix in the flour mixture until incorporated and the dough comes together. Gather the dough into a ball, then divide it in half. Wrap each half separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
2
Preheat oven
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3
Shape cookies
Working with one half of the dough at a time (leave the remainder in the refrigerator), roll it into 1-inch balls, arranging them about 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Make an indentation in the center of each ball using the handle end of a wooden spoon, being careful not to go all the way through the dough.
4
Bake
Bake for about 13 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking, or until the cookies feel just slightly firm. Transfer the cookie sheets to a rack and immediately depress the centers of the cookies again using the handle end of a wooden spoon to reinforce and widen the indentation to about ¾ inch in diameter. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
5
Make caramel filling
Heat the caramels and cream in a medium saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring often, until the caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Spoon the caramel into the indentations in the cookies, filling just up to the rim. Let the caramel set before drizzling.
6
Make chocolate drizzle
Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave for 20- to 30-second intervals on medium power, stirring after each interval, until melted and smooth. Let cool at room temperature for a few minutes. Place the cookies close together on racks set over wax paper. Pour the chocolate into a small plastic bag, seal, and make a tiny cut in one corner. Drizzle the chocolate in a zigzag pattern over the cookies. Let set completely.
