Let's admit, we have seen our fair share of thumbprint cookies ranging from the famous caramel turtle thumbprint cookies, lemon thumbprint cookies, to even those "omg, your favorite jam!" thumbprint cookies. The ideas are quite endless when it comes to such treats engraved with the misshapen stamp we call our "thumb." But, I urge you to drop everything and think about how valuable these little treasures are. These are the only two extremities of our body that bring these thumbprint cookies to life. We shape perfect circular bowls and fill them with our favorite cream, oh yes, that lucky cream. This utterly genius, yet simple idea had me squealing and shrieking with screams of gratification and delight. All out of unspeakable amounts of joy, I have come to be in awe with what we call... our thumbs.
Now cue your thoughts: "This baker-girl is insane..."
DISCLAIMER: I'm not insane, just in love...
With these Chocolate Drizzled Red Velvet Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies!! Never have I loved a thumbprint cookie recipe so much that I began to love the thumbs that made this creation possible. This already says a lot about this recipe, right? But in all seriousness, I guess I can say that I am a bit deranged. But, you've been heavily warned, my prospective thumb-lovers ;)
Red velvet and cream cheese have always been my favorite pair. Put it in a cake. Wow. Put it in a cupcake. So delicious. Put it in a cheesecake. Mmmmm. But, how about putting it in a thumbprint cookie with a deep well that oozes of cream cheese? WowSoDeliciousMmmmmm.... (see what I did there?). When I discovered this recipe in Deborah's book, "Red Velvet Lover's Cookbook," I was blown away by her idea of incorporating this crazy combination into the form of thumbprint cookies where the red velvet dough is covered in white sanding sugar (twist by Something Swanky). After making the small indentations, the cookies are filled with a cream cheese mix, which is then baked again in the oven. After the baking, I added a drizzle of dark chocolate to counter the sweetness factor of the cookies. Now that's what I call a winning combination.
Let me know how this recipe worked for you! I would love to see your spins on this "thumb-elievable" idea! ;)
Recipe
Red Velvet Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
RED VELVET COOKIES
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk, see note 1
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 teaspoon red food coloring
- 2 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ cup sanding sugar*
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg yolk, see note 1
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate
Instructions
RED VELVET COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 300ºF. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Beat together the butter, brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mix in the flour, food coloring, and cocoa powder until soft dough forms.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Scoop out the dough by heaping tablespoons and roll them in the sugar* before placing on the prepared baking sheet (about 2 inches apart). Use your thumb (or the back of a round teaspoon) to make a small indentation in the cookie dough.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth.
- After the first 10 minutes of baking, use the back of a round teaspoon (too hot to use your thumbs!) to deepen the indentation in the cookies. Spoon a teaspoon of the filling into each indentation. It works best when you put the cream filling into a pastry bag and pipe it onto each cookie.
- Bake for an additional 12 minutes, until filling is set. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
- Melt the dark chocolate as directed on the package. Put the chocolate in a pastry bag (or ziploc bag) and drizzle onto the cookies. Let it set.
Harvard Common Press (@HCPDishes) says
Anna-- these look amazing! Thank you so much for featuring Deborah's book, we're glad you're putting it to such good/yummy use!
Shaza says
Hi Anna, thanks for the recipe. May i know, how long that i can keep the cookies at the room temperature, since it use cream cheese? I would like to make for my hari raya cookies
Ingle says
Do these need to be refrigerated after they are baked and decorated but not served until next day?
Anna | The Baking Spoon says
Yes, you can keep them in the refrigerator until you need to serve them the next day!