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These Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are soft, chewy Christmas chocolate cookies topped with peppermint Hershey kisses – one of my favorite little holiday candies! They are delicious and will make you the hit of your holiday cookie exchange!
If you like thumbprint cookies as much as I do, you should also try these delicious Peanut Butter Blossoms!
Table of Contents
How to make Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Hershey Kisses
Get the Recipe
There are few things that I’ve been loving more than peppermint for the holidays. When I was pregnant last year, all of sudden I craved all things peppermint and that hasn’t really gone away. I’m still totally in love with peppermint flavored things for Christmas!
So when I decided to make a chocolate thumbprint cookie, I knew they needed to be topped with the candy cane Hershey kisses. I think of all the little peppermint candies out there, those might be my fave. Such great flavor and I love the little crunchy things in them. So good!
Naturally when you combine a delicious chocolate cookie with a delicious peppermint kiss, you’ve got a fabulous cookie on your hands that’s totally worthy of your cookie tray!
How to make Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
To get started making these little drops of Christmas cookie heaven, you’ll want to cream the butter and sugar together until it’s lighter in color and fluffy in texture. I used both regular and brown sugar in these cookies. I often find that brown sugar offers a deeper flavor and more moisture and they definitely add to these chocolate thumbprint cookies.
Next up you’ll add your egg and vanilla extract, then the dry ingredients. When the cookie dough is ready to go, roll it into large tablespoon sized balls, then roll the balls in a little sugar. After placing the ball onto a cookie sheet, press a little indent into the center of the cookie – a “thumbprint”. It will fill back in a good bit when baking, but it’ll give you a spot to add your hershey kiss later.
The cookies bake for just 6-7 minutes and once they are done, you can add your peppermint kiss.
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Hershey Kisses
The final Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are not only pretty, but delicious! So wonderfully soft to bite into, with the crunch of the hershey kisses. I love the chocolate and peppermint flavor combination – just perfect!
You might also like: Candy Cane Cookies Peppermint Cheesecake Brownie Trifle Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies Peppermint Chip Layer Cake Peppermint Espresso Brownie Cheesecake Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti Peppermint Chocolate Pancakes Peanut Butter Blossoms
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Recipe
Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 7 reviews
Author:Lindsay
Prep Time:45 minutes
Cook Time:25 minutes
Total Time:1 hour 10 minutes
Yield:26-28 cookies
Category:Dessert
Method:Oven
Cuisine:American
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Description
Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are soft, chewy Christmas chocolate cookies topped with peppermint Hershey kisses. Perfect for cookie exchanges!
Ingredients
10 tbsp (140g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (112g) brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup (104g) sugar, plus 3 tbsp for rolling
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (163g) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (57g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
26–28 Candy Cane Hershey’s Kisses
Instructions
1. 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. 3. Cream butter and sugars (minus the 3 tablespoons of sugar for rolling) together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. 4. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. 5. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated and thick. 6. Roll one tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. (NOTE: If you make larger balls of cookie dough, the cookies will spread more.) 7. 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. 8. Bake the cookies for 6-7 minutes. 9. 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.
Notes
The cookie dough can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days. While you don’t have to refrigerate the cookie dough before baking, I do find that if you refrigerate it for about 24 hours first, the cookies bake even more soft, thick and chewy.
The dough should be chilled for at least 30 minutes, so that you can shape it into balls and indent without falling apart. Check that your oven temperature isn't too high.
The best way to keep thumbprint cookies from cracking and to keep them soft is to use cornstarch. In this recipe, I use just the right amount of cornstarch so you have a buttery shortbread cookie that doesn't crack.
Storing your dough in the fridge helps to harden the fat and prevent your cookies from spreading. Allow it to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
No. After baking, thumbprint cookies do not need to be refrigerated. To store them, simply save in an airtight container at room temperature. You can store them in the refrigerator if you prefer, but it's not necessary.
Absolutely! Thumbprint cookies will either have their indentions made before or after baking. If that occurs before baking, you can do that before they're frozen so that they're ready to go when you're ready to bake them.
Most cookie dough can be refrigerated, well-wrapped, for 3-5 days before baking. If you want to make it farther in advance, freeze the dough. You can either freeze the entire brick of dough or divide it into portions for quick baking.
Put the cookie pieces together on the baking sheet.Gently mush the edges together to "glue" the cookies into each other as they bake. Sometimes gluing the cookies together is enough, if they are interlocked and share enough edges. Sometimes though... you need to add some "tape."
The leavening power of baking soda is about three to four times stronger than baking powder. This means that you need a lot less baking soda in your recipes. If a recipe calls for baking soda and you only have baking powder, you need to use the right baking soda to baking powder conversion.
When does Thumbprint Cookies expire? Thumbprint cookies, whether homemade or store-bought, generally maintain their best quality for up to 1 to 2 weeks at normal room temperature. If you store your cookies in the fridge, you can extend their life to about 3 weeks.
Bake at 375 degrees F until golden and tender, 12 to 15 minutes. For crispy-cakey cookies: Bake the cookies at 425 degrees F until golden and crunchy on the outside, 8 to 10 minutes. For chewy cookies: Use 1 cup light brown sugar and 1/4 cup corn syrup and omit the granulated sugar.
Like other sponge cakes, ladyfingers traditionally contain no chemical leavening agent, and rely on air incorporated into the eggs for their "sponge" texture. Some brands, though, contain ammonium bicarbonate. The egg whites and egg yolks mixed with sugar are typically beaten separately and folded together with flour.
Pizzelles are the oldest known cookie and originated in the mid-section of Italy. They were made many years ago for the “Festival of the Snakes” also known as the “Feast Day of San Domenico” in the village of Colcullo in the Italian region of Abruzzo.
If you reduce the amount of butter or oil in a recipe, your cookies won't spread as much. If you add too much flour, your cookies won't spread as much. If your cookies have more brown sugar than white sugar, they won't spread as much. It's a careful balance.
If you use cake or pastry flour, which are softer, your cookies will be fragile and crumbly. And if you use self-rising flour (which is a type of flour with the baking powder already mixed in), any number of things could go wrong. The right way: Use whatever flour the recipe specifies, most likely all-purpose flour.
The goal, usually, is to only incorporate the two ingredients without reaching the "light and fluffy" stage. When you mix the butter and sugar together at high speed or for too long, you'll aerate the dough excessively, causing the cookies to rise—and then fall—in the oven.
Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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