These homemade chocolate thumbprint cookies are an elevated twist on the more traditional thumbprint cookie where you roll it into a ball and make an indent into the center with your thumb or teaspoon. These simple, yet sophisticated cookies are a great treat to make for a family party, book club night, or just for you and your special someone. No matter the reason, these cookies are super good, chocolatey, and so soft. Pick a favorite jam or chocolate filling to add after you bake them, or you can choose to fill some with Nutella and strawberry jam, like I did!
I usually associate these chocolate thumbprint cookies with Christmas time, but I decided to make them anyway because I really just wanted a reason to use the thumbprint cookie stamp set I got from Williams Sonoma. ha! Thumbprint cookies are a favorite of mine in general since I was a kid. And for this recipe, I didn't add anything red and green to them, so they don't really look like a Christmas cookie. Are there certain cookies you associate with different holidays or times of the year? Would thumbprints fall under Christmas for you too?
quick tips for how to use cookie stamps
- I used the Williams Sonoma Thumbprint Cookie Stamp Set for this recipe.
- You can also give this thumbprint circle or rectangle cookie stamp a try as well or you can go the old fashion route and roll the dough into small 1- to 1 1/2-inch balls, then press your finger into the center to create a cavity for where the jam or nutella will go.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling it out. I found it to be easier to work with when using the stamps. My preference - chilling the dough overnight covered.
- If you do chill the chocolate thumbprint cookie dough chill overnight, let the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling it out.
- Lightly flour the surface and your rolling pin before rolling out the dough.
- If you need to add more flour as you roll out the cookie dough or for the stamps, that's okay. The flour will bake off.
- These thumbprint cookie stamps work well when the dough is rolled out thick. Williams Sonoma recommends 1/4", but I found they need to be a little thicker than this.
- Lightly flour the thumbprint cookie stamps.
- After stamping out the cookies, place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes. While one set of cookies is baking, you can have another set in the fridge/freezer cooling. Doing this step, helps to keep the details of the cookie.
- When filling the cookies after baking, I found it easier to pipe the filling into the centers using a piping bag instead of using a spoon.
recommended baking tools for making homemade chocolate thumbprint cookies
give these other Beyond the Butter cookie recipes a try!
- Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies
- Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookies
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Cookies
Or visit the Cookies section of My Recipe Box to see them all!
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes (does not include cooling or piping time)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Approx. 36 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
These homemade Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are an elevated twist on the classic using the Williams Sonoma thumbprint cookie stamp set. These soft and chocolatey cookies are simple, yet sophisticated making them a great treat to make for a family party, book club night, or just for you and that someone special.
Ingredients
- 2 cups All-purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg Yolk (not the entire egg)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Nutella and/or Jam of your choice
recipe also used
- Williams Sonoma® Thumbprint Cookie Stamp Set
- Small Piping Bags (for the filling - just cut the tip off when ready to use)
- Cookie Sheets
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using your hand-held mixer or stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed, beat together the unsalted butter and granulated sugar until well blended. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.
- Switching the mixer speed to low, gradually add in your dry ingredients, then mix until well blended.
- Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 1 hour in the refrigerator. You can, alternatively, chill the dough overnight as well. If you choose this option, you may want to shape the dough into discs, like you would for pie crust, so it's easier to roll out the next day. When ready to bake, bring the dough out to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough (1/2"-5/8" thickness) onto a floured surface. Using the lightly floured cookie stamps, stamp out each cookie and place it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. For a well-defined cookie shape, I recommended chilling the cookies in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes before placing in the oven to bake.
- Once chilled, bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes (my oven did well at 10 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Once cooled, add in either (or both) the Nutella or jam (I used strawberry).
- If you're filling the thumbprint cookies with jam, heat the jam up in a small saucepan over low heat for a few minutes before adding it to the cookies. Another alternative is to pipe the jam cold into each cookie.
- If you're filling the thumbprint cookies with Nutella, you can fill each cookie using a piping bag or ziplock bag with the tip snipped off.
- Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. If needed, you can add layers of wax paper in between layers.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my late-Grammy's Jamboree Cookie recipe and the Washington Post.
Keywords: thumbprint cookies, chocolate thumbprint cookies, cookies, chocolate, fall desserts, fall recipes, williams sonoma, thumbprint cookie stamp set
sheenam | thetwincookingproject.net says
Oh these cookies look amazing!!! Yummy.
Jennifer says
Thank you so much!
Kaylynn says
This recipe is great! I love that the cookie has enough salt that you can subtly taste it, and is not overly sweet! It perfectly compliments the nutella/jam in the middle. The first night I made this, I used only enough to make a few cookies, but my husband and I loved them so much that I had to make more the next day! 🙂
★★★★★
Jennifer says
Yay! I'm so happy to hear you and your husband loved them, Kaylynn! Thank you so much for the feedback too! Have a good weekend!
Shannon says
I just bought these stamps and I’m so excited to test them out. And yes....thumbprint cookies = Christmas cookies. But so good anytime of year.
Jennifer says
Totally agree! So glad you got them! I love using them and actually need to make some more soon because my husband is obsessed with these cookies! ☺️ If you have any questions about using them, shoot me an email or a DM over on Instagram. And if you take any pics and/or post them to your social feeds send them my way so I can share!
Ann Stoller says
I, too, used the WS molds when I make thumbprint cookies. I love the effect; so professional looking. I tried your recipe and it worked great---tastes good, too. My cookies turned out a darker color than yours though. I like the lighter brown shade. What brand of cocoa powder did you use? Thank you.
Jennifer says
I'm so glad you loved them! Aren't the WS stamps awesome? For this recipe, I believe I used Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder. I've also used Ghirardelli's as well and like both of them!
Maria Newcomer says
I bought the stamps and then found this recipe. These are sooooooo good. I have always loved butter cookies and did not realize how much I would love a chocolate version.
★★★★★
Jennifer says
I'm so happy to hear you loved them, Maria! Thank you for making them!