The dough is a soft cocoa cookie dough. Each ball is rolled in coarse sugar, which crackles as it bakes, and pressed with a deep thumbprint.
Once the cookies are completely cool, the wells are filled with a two-ingredient ganache of semisweet chocolate and hot cream. There is no jam, caramel or nuts.
One Thumbprint Cookie
Twenty-four cookies, each built the same way.
What goes into one cookie
Cocoa dough ball
One of 24 equal portions of the soft chocolate dough.
Sugar crust
Rolled in coarse sugar before baking.
Thumbprint
Pressed deep before baking and pressed again while still warm.
Ganache
Slightly thickened semisweet chocolate ganache spooned into the well once the cookie is cool.
Left until the ganache sets.
How to Make It
Oven heated, dry ingredients whisked
Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
Butter, sugar, egg and vanilla, then the dry mix
Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients just until a soft dough forms.
24 balls rolled in coarse sugar and pressed
Roll the dough into 24 balls, coat each in coarse sugar and set them on the sheets. Press a deep thumbprint into the centre of each.
Baked 10 to 12 minutes, centres re-pressed
Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set. Gently press the centres again while warm and cool completely.
Ganache made and spooned in
Heat the cream until steaming and pour it over the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth, let it cool until slightly thickened, then spoon it into the thumbprints and let it set.
Ingredient Notes
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Half a cup gives the dough its deep chocolate colour.
- Coarse sugar
- A third of a cup for rolling, which forms the crackled crust.
- Semisweet chocolate and heavy cream
- Four ounces of finely chopped chocolate melted with a third of a cup of hot cream.
Success Tips
- Use the end of a wooden spoon handle if your thumb makes shallow wells.
- Chop the chocolate finely so the hot cream melts it evenly.
- Fill the wells only when the cookies are completely cool.
Why This Recipe Works
- Coarse sugar stays crunchy on the outside and gives the cookies their crackled look.
- Re-pressing the centres while the cookies are warm keeps the wells deep enough to hold the ganache.
- Letting the ganache cool until slightly thick stops it running straight over the edges.
- Mixing the dry ingredients in just until combined keeps the cookies soft.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Let the ganache set fully before stacking, and store the cookies in a single layer in an airtight container.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the filling?
Chocolate ganache made from semisweet chocolate and hot cream.
How do I know the cookies are baked?
The edges should be set after 10 to 12 minutes; the centres stay soft and firm up as they cool.
Is making ganache tricky?
No, but take care with the hot cream: heat it only until steaming and pour it slowly over the chocolate.
Serving Ideas
Arrange on a white plate once the ganache has set, so the glossy chocolate centres show against the sugar-crusted cookies.
