Mint Chocolate Thumbprints for the Holidays--or Anytime!

The minute I saw these cookies I knew I was making them. They are from yet another holiday baking magazine, and the minty chocolate definitely says festive holidays--but I could not wait, I wanted them now. So when the PTG asked for volunteers to make dinners and desserts for the teachers during the week of parent-teacher conferences (because the teachers all work late), I figured I could make them for the teachers as a trial run. And keep a few for us of course.



Which turned out to be a bit of a problem, because while I would strongly recommend the recipe, the writers were smoking something funny if they thought the recipe made 3 dozen cookies. I doubled it and barely came up with 40--and while my cookies might have been slightly bigger than expected, there is no way they were doubled in size. So the recipe below is doubled from the magazine.




Setting aside the quantity issue, however, this recipe is fantastic. The cookie part is similar to a shortbread, it kind of melts in your mouth with a tender yet sandy crumb. And the chocolate, well is chocolate. Tender from the butter, and rich and delicious because I used an excellent chocolate (Scharffen Berger), it melted right into the cookie base in a way that a Hershey's Kiss cannot dream of. My family went bonkers for these. In a nutshell, highly recommended for the holidays--or anytime.

*Note this recipe requires chilling so plan ahead.

Mint Chocolate Thumbprints
Adapted from Fine Cooking: Brownies, Bars & More (special holiday issue 2010)

cookie:
10 1/2 oz (2 cups plus 5 T) AP flour
1 1/2 oz (1/2 cup) Dutch processed cocoa (I used Valrhona)
12 oz (1 1/2 cups, 3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz (1 cup) sifted confectioners' sugar
1 T vanilla
1/2 t salt

mint chocolate filling:
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 oz (6 T) unsalted butter, sliced into pats
peppermint oil to taste (what I used) or 1/4 t peppermint extract

Sift the flour and cocoa together into a medium bowl. Whisk in the salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and confectioners' sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and blend in. Add the flour mixture and mix until a ball of dough forms. It will be too soft to work with at this point, so wrap it into plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour, or until it is firm enough to work with (I made my dough a few days in advance actually). If you let it chill for a long time, you will need to let it soften a bit at room temperature before you can work with it.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheet/s (the number is up to you, however many you can work with at one time) with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Roll scant tablespoons of the dough into balls and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet/s. Lightly flour your thumb and use it to press straight down into the center of each ball, creating a deep well.

Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes, until the tops look dry. Use a wooden spoon to gently define the edges of the well in the center of each cookie. Cool the cookies on the sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

When the cookies are nearly cool, prepare the chocolate filling. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl and microwave on 50% power in 45 second increments until the chocolate can be stirred smooth. Add the peppermint oil (or extract if using), to taste. Keep in mind all of the mint flavor will come from this chocolate as the cookies are plain chocolate. Set this chocolate mixture over to the side to cool a bit, until it has thickened and is slightly warmer than room temperature.

When the chocolate has cooled sufficiently, scrape it into a pastry bag with a tip attached or into a plastic freezer bag (when you are done, you will snip the corner of the bag off--this is what I did and it worked fine). Pipe the filling into the center of each cookie. Let cool completely before storing--it says to let cool before serving but I could not wait and it tasted just fine warm and melty to me.