Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Thick, soft, chewy, and gooey Thumbprint Cookies filled with caramel, drizzled with chocolate, and sprinkled with salt.
Servings: 24 Cookies
Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
- 1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
FOR THE FILLING
- 12 (11-ounces bag) caramels unwrapped
- 2 tablespoons half & half
- 1/3 cup dark 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.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 154mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 255IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 0.6mg
