Name: Rich Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookies
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: 36
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped; 2 ounces mint chocolate, chopped (Use part of a movie-theater box of Junior Mints); 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened; 1/3 cup granulated sugar; 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar; 2 large egg yolks; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1 cup coarse sugar such as Turbinado, for rolliing; 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped; 3 tablespoons heavy cream; 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Jump to Recipe

Chocolate Mint Thumbprints are an intense chocolate cookie similar to a shortbread and filled with a lush, mint chocolate ganache. If you love Andes mints or After Dinner Mints, you'll love these cookies.

This particular thumbprint recipe is from an old edition of Food and Wine.

This cookie almost like these double chunk chocolate shortbread cookies.

Chocolate and mint are truly a well-matched combination.

Hey girl hey.

It's time to make Christmas cookies!

You're going to love these.

These chocolate thumbprints are a good choice if you're having a celebration or you want a dessert to serve alongside appetizers at a cocktail party.

Have you ever been to a dinner party where a fancy box of chocolates is passed around the dining table with after-dinner drinks?

Chocolate Mint Thumbprints could totally substitute for those fancy chocolates.

Be forewarned, there are a few steps in this recipe.

But on a scale of 1 to 10, I score these cookies a 9.99999.

Because these take a while, make them on a Sunday afternoon when you have nothing else going on.

Chocolate mint cookies have THREE kinds of chocolate in the dough: bittersweet chocolate, chocolate mint candy and dutch-process cocoa so these cookies are intensely chocolate.

Plus there is white chocolate in the mint ganache topping!

What You'll Need to Make Mint Thumbprint Cookies

Bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli chips)
Mint candy (Andes, or Junior Mints or After Eight Dinner Mints)
Dutch process cocoa
Heavy Cream
White Chocolate
Sanding sugar
A tool for making reservoirs in each cookie for mint ganache
A teaspoon to fill the reservoirs with the mint ganache or a pastry bag to squeeze the ganache into the holes.

Dutch Process Cocoa Powder vs. Regular Cocoa Powder

Do you remember the difference between dutch-process cocoa and regular cocoa powder?

Neither do I. So I looked it up for you.

ABC's of Cocoa Powder

If you like cookies made with cocoa powder, you might like Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies OR Double Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies OR Black Cocoa Cut-Out Cookies.

Cookie Baking Advice

You may find these baking posts helpful, from Room Temperature Butter for Baking to Salted or Unsalted Butter for Cookies? to Do I Need A Cookie Scoop?, Cookie Size Chart to What Should a Beginner Bake? to Where Can I Buy Sprinkles?, Why is my sugar cookie dough too sticky? and Cookie Holidays.

Recipe Notes

The first thing you'll do is chop bittersweet chocolate and chocolate mint candy then melt them together.

The easiest way to chop chocolate is with a sharp knife or bench scraper.

Chop the chocolate on a piece of wax paper on top of your cutting board.

That way you can just pick up the wax paper and pour the chocolate into the bowl.

This thumbprint recipe uses two egg yolks instead of whole eggs.

Whenever a cookie calls for just yolks, you know it’s going to be extra good.

Case in point, this recipe for Italian Butter Cookies.

Save the egg whites to make an egg white omelet for breakfast.

Kidding!

Make these meringue cookies!

I used a movie theater box of Junior Mints for the chocolate mint ganache filling and it was perfect.

If you don’t have Junior Mints you could also use After Eight Mints or Andes mints or Peppermint Patties.

You bake these thumbprints without the filling.

However, you pull the cookies out after 10 minutes and reinforce the cavity with whatever tool you used to create the cavities

Be careful, the cookies will be hot and the dough is a bit fragile.

Don't push too hard or you'll collapse the cookie.

The cookies go back in the oven for another five minutes after this step.

How to Make Thumbprint Cookies

Tools You Can Use to Make Indentations:

Your thumb
Teaspoon
Melon Baller
A wine cork dusted with flour
Rounded end of a vegetable peeler

Once you pull the cookies out of the oven, let them cool, then fill with the chocolate mint ganache.

You can use a teaspoon to fill the holes with ganache.

Or if you want your cookies to have a neater appearance, fill a pastry bag with the mint ganache.

Squeeze a half teaspoon of gananche onto each cookie.

Rich Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookie Recipe

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Yield: 36

Rich Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookies

Chocolate Mint Thumbprint cookies are intensely chocolaty thanks to THREE kinds of chocolate in the dough, which is topped with a lush, creamy mint white chocolate ganache.

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces mint chocolate, chopped (Use part of a movie-theater box of Junior Mints)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
¾ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup coarse sugar such as Turbinado, for rolliing
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
½ teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Instructions

Make the Cookie Dough

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the bittersweet and mint chocolates in 30-second intervals until nearly melted.

Whisk until smooth, then let cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the cocoa and salt.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter until creamy.

Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Scrape the chocolate into the mixer and beat just until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed, scraping the side of the bowl occasionally, until smooth.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and pat it into a disk ala pie crust; wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Bake the Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Pour sanding sugar into a small bowl.

Portion tablespoons of the dough and roll into balls, then roll in the coarse sugar and place on baking sheet.

Using your thumb or a melon baller or the handle of a vegetable peeler, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until slightly firm.

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven. Using the melon baller or the vegetable peeler, press the indentation in the cookies again.

Return the cookies to the oven and bake for five more minutes.

Cool on wire rack.

Make the Ganache

Put the white chocolate in a small bowl.

Meanwhile, pour the cream into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at high power until boiling, about 30 seconds.

Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and let stand until melted, then whisk until smooth. Add peppermint extract and stir.

Fill the thumbprints with the white-chocolate ganache and refrigerate just until set, about 30 minutes. See note.

Cookies will keep for a week in an airtight container.

Freezes well

Notes

Filling the thumbprints with mint ganache:

You can put the ganache into a pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag with a corner of the bag snipped off. Or you can fill the thumbprints using a teaspoon.

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Nutrition Information

Yield 36 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 75Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 31mgSodium 54mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 1gSugar 11gProtein 2g

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