Gingerbread thumbprint cookies are soft molasses cookies rolled in sanding sugar, pressed with five divots and filled with melted chocolate. That makes them a clever Christmas cookie for a cookie exchange, a kids baking afternoon or a gift tin, since no cutter is needed. Twenty four cookies a batch.
Reform the divots while the cookies are still hot on the pan. They puff in the oven and close up. Once a cookie cools the shape is set, so you get about ten minutes to push each one back.
The card says 4 hours, but the waiting alone runs 3 hours 53 minutes to 4 hours 24. Add rolling, 120 divots, filling and piping 24 faces, and the real figure is closer to five and a half.
Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA soft spiced molasses dough chilled twice, rolled in sparkling sugar and dimpled into a five petal flower. The hollows fill with dark chocolate and the details are piped in white.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 large egg
1 cup white or clear sanding sugar
- For Filling and Decorating:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup mini white chocolate chips
Red and green flat circle sprinkles
Directions
- Make the dough: Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, salt, allspice, cinnamon and cloves in a large bowl. Beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in the molasses and the egg. Drop to low, add the flour mixture and beat just until it comes together. Press plastic wrap onto the dough and chill at least 2 hours.
- Shape and dimple: Line two sheets with parchment. Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough, roll it smooth, roll it in sanding sugar and set it on the sheet, until you have about 24. Flatten each one to a 1 1/2 to 2 inch disk with the bottom of a glass, then press 5 fingertip divots in a ring so it looks like a five petal flower. Chill 30 minutes.
- Bake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake 12 to 14 minutes, until golden at the edges and still chewy looking in the middle. Leave them on the sheet 10 minutes. While they are hot, push any divots that puffed shut back into shape, then move them to a rack for 30 minutes.
- Fill with chocolate: Melt the semisweet chocolate in the microwave about 1 minute, stirring halfway. Spoon a teaspoon into the middle of a cookie and spread it with a toothpick or skewer until it fills the whole gingerbread person shape. Repeat with the rest.
- Pipe and set: Melt the white chocolate chips, pour them into a piping bag and snip the tiniest hole you can. Pipe two eyes on the head, sleeves on the arms and pants on the legs, then press three sprinkle buttons down the middle. Let the chocolate harden 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- Plan on five to five and a half hours, not the four on the original card. Only about half the cup of sanding sugar will stick, so save the rest.
FAQs
Why five divots instead of one?
The five dents sit in a ring like petals, and once the chocolate fills them they read as a head, two arms and two legs. It is a gingerbread person without a cutter or any rolling. Press with a fingertip, not a knuckle, or the dough splits.
Do I need sanding sugar, and how much sticks?
Sanding sugar has large crystals that survive the oven, which is why the cookies sparkle instead of going dull. A cup is listed but barely half of it ends up on the dough. Tip the rest back into the jar rather than binning it.
My cookies only keep three days?
That is the number on the card and it is pessimistic for a molasses cookie. The limit is really the chocolate, which dulls and sweats in a warm room. Keep them in a tin somewhere cool and a week is fine.
Can I use chocolate chips instead of a chopped bar?
Chips hold their shape on purpose, so they stay thick and set with a dull finish instead of flowing into the dents. Chop a bar if you want a smooth glossy fill. For a cookie built around chips, these chocolate crinkle cookies are a better fit.
What else goes on the Christmas cookie plate?
Pick things that look different from each other, because a plate of brown cookies reads as one cookie. Something red and white alongside does the most work, so a pile of broken peppermint bark cookies sits well next to these. Three varieties is usually plenty.
