Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

A stack of chocolate thumbprint cookies with chocolate centers and sprinkles, the top one bitten.

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Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

These chocolate thumbprint cookies are rich, fudgy, and loaded with two kinds of chocolate, then filled with a smooth ganache for the perfect holiday treat.

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 11

Chill Time 1

Total Time 1 26

Servings cookies

Author Melissa Williams

Ingredients

For the cookies

¾ cup (179 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
¾ cup (160 g) light brown sugar packed
¼ cup (50 g) granulated white sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
½ teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
½ cup (44 g) cocoa powder I use Ghirardelli
1 ½ cup (180 g) all purpose flour

For the ganache

⅓ cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (260 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
sprinkles optional

Instructions

To make the cookies

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
To a large mixing bowl, add the softened butter and sugars. Cream together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
¾ cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated white sugar
Add in the egg yolks and vanilla. Mix until fully combined.
2 large egg yolks, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. The dough will be very crumbly but will come together.
½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
Use a small (2 teaspoon) cookie scoop to scoop the dough, roll into balls, slightly flatten between the palms of your hands, then add to the prepared baking sheet, approximately 1" apart.
Use the back of a teaspoon measuring spoon to make an indentation into each ball.
Cover the pan and move to the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Once you remove the cookies from the oven, use the same teaspoon to press the indent into each cookie again as they will have puffed up a bit. Let cool on the pan.

To make the ganache

While the cookies are cooling, make the ganahce by adding the heavy cream and butter to a heavy bottomed saucepan and heating over low heat until hot, but not boiling.
⅓ cup heavy cream, 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Remove the pan from the heat and add in the vanilla and chocolate chips, stirring until creamy and smooth.
Transfer the ganache to a piping bag and pipe ganache into each cookie indentation. Top with sprinkles.
sprinkles

Notes

Using a small cookie scoop (2 tsp), this recipe should yield 30 cookies.
I use Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder.
Semi-sweet, dark, or milk chocolate chips can be used for the ganache.
If you don't want to pipe the ganache, you can use an offset spatula to add it to each cookie.
Use your favorite sprinkles. We like non-pareils.
Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Nutrition