Thick, soft, chewy, and gooey Thumbprint Cookies filled with caramel, drizzled with chocolate, and sprinkled with salt.
Servings : 24Cookies
Prep Time 1 hourhr
Cook Time 20 minutesmins
Cooling Time 20 minutesmins
Total Time 1 hourhr20 minutesmins
Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
1cup (16 tablespoons)unsalted butter,softened
2/3cuppowdered sugar
1 1/2teaspoonspure vanilla extract
1/2teaspoonsalt
2 1/4cupsall-purpose flour
FOR THE FILLING
12(11-ounces bag)caramels unwrapped
2tablespoonshalf & half
1/3cupdark chocolate chips,melted
coarse sea salt,for topping
Instructions
FOR THE COOKIES
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute.
Lower speed to medium and add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt; continue to beat until combined. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer off and pour in the flour; with mixer on low speed, beat mixture until soft dough is formed.
Pinch off 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and shape into smooth balls. If the dough is too soft to handle, put in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Arrange dough balls about 1-1/2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets. Using the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measure, press down into the middle of each ball to make a well. If the edges crack, reroll the cookie dough ball.
Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are dry and edges are golden brown.
Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet; transfer from cookie sheet to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the filling.
FOR THE FILLING
In microwavable bowl, microwave caramels and half-and-half uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring once or twice, until caramels are melted.
Spoon caramel into indentation of each completely cooled cookie; let stand about 10 minutes.
Drizzle each cookie with melted chocolate; sprinkle with salt.
Let stand about 10 minutes or until chocolate is set.
Serve.
Notes
HOW TO MAKE AHEAD
Baked, unfilled cookies can be frozen for 1 month. Arrange the cookies in single layers, divided by waxed paper in an airtight container.
You can also keep unfilled cookies on the kitchen counter at room temperature for 5 days.
Cookies can be filled up to 3 days ahead; once filled, arrange on a sheet pan in one layer and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap isn't touching the caramel. Store at room temperature.
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: caramel, chocolate cookies, christmas cookies, thumbprint cookies