Black Forest Thumbprint Cookies
I’m obsessed with all things black forest cake. It’s one of my favorite flavors and that’s why I’ve turned it into fudge and tres leches in the past. Both are great options if you’re a fan of black forest as much as I am. This year, however, I wanted to give my holiday cookies the same mash-up treatment. These Black Forest Thumbprint Cookies are my new favorite cookie, much like last year’s babka cookies were. But those were last year’s IT cookie for me and now, these thumbprints are here to make your holidays a little bit brighter and a lot more delicious.
I’ll leave you with one last tip…if you don’t have chocolate sprinkles on hand, you can use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate and just shave it onto the cookies with a vegetable peeler. Of course, you can also just omit either all together.
Black Forest Thumbprint Cookies
Equipment
- Mixer
- Baking sheet
- Cookie scooper
- Pastry bag with star tip
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup canned cherry pie filling
Topping:
- 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until combined.
- Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and coat in the granulated sugar. Place onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use a ¼ teaspoon measuring spoon to gently make an indentation in the center of each ball. Bake until the cookies feel set, about 9 to 11 minutes. Remove pans from the oven, and press down centers again. Allow to cool on the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the topping, beat the heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag, fitted with a small star tip.
- Fill the center of each cooled cookie with a cherry and some of the syrup. Pipe a ring of whipped cream around each cherry and top with chocolate sprinkles. Serve immediately or store in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to eat. Enjoy!
