Saturday, December 21, 2013

Holiday Thumbprints


On Monday of this week, my aunt, my cousin, and I all combined forces to have a little holiday luncheon for my dad and a couple of friends.  The weekend weather had been formidable, but thankfully road crews managed to clear paths well enough for us to come from far and wide.  It was an intimate group of seven, but an enjoyable time for all – my dad in particular who is struggling mightily (as you might imagine considering the time of the year) with the loss of my mom last February.  The conversation was brisk, the food was delicious.

My cousin made these darling thumbprint cookies.  How she has the time with a seriously busy full time job, and two seriously busy, adorable kids, is beyond me, but I appreciated trying them and thought I would share them with you.  She takes no credit, attributing Betty Crocker for the recipe, but kudos to her for assembly and presentation!

Holiday Thumbprints

Cookies
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1-3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
Crushed hard peppermint candies, if desired

Fudge Filling
¼ cup whipping cream
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat sugar, butter, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa and salt until dough forms.

Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into 1-inch balls, and place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press thumb or end of wooden spoon into center of each cookie, indenting about halfway.

Bake 7 to 11 minutes or until edges are firm. If necessary, quickly remake indentations with end of wooden spoon. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until melted. Cool about 10 minutes or until thickened.
Spoon rounded 1/2 teaspoon filling into indentation in each cookie. Top with peppermint.

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3 comments:

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Those sound delicious with the fudge filling! So glad the road crews were able to clear the path to the luncheon for your dad, and how sweet of you to do this!

Merry Christmas!

Sheila

Kaz @ Melting Moments said...

These are so cute and I bet they taste sensational!! Thanks for sharing! Happy holidays!

Lisa Boyle said...

These look really good! Thanks for linking up with "Try a New Recipe Tuesday!" I hope you will be able to join us again this week. http://our4kiddos.blogspot.com/2013/12/try-new-recipe-tuesday-1231.html Happy New Year!