Valentine's Day Thumbprint Cookies
I don’t mean to brag but Cason and I have mastered the fine art of thumbprint cookies. These little delicacies can be a labor of love (not difficult to make, just time-consuming) but trust me, you’ve never tasted a better cookie in your life. They are melt in your mouth, hide from your friends, eat in the closet good! My mom gave us the recipe years ago and it’s been my favorite cookie recipe ever since. We make them every year at Christmas (aka: decorate with Christmas sprinkles) but you can make them for any occasion or holiday. Cason and I decided to whip up a batch for Valentine’s Day and found these adorable edible hearts at Williams Sonoma and it added the perfect touch! (I can’t find the edible hearts on their website but I can vouch that they had them in their store this week!)
Thumbprint Cookie Recipe
:: 2/3 cup sugar
:: 1 cup butter, softened (We ALWAYS use Kerrygold Butter in this recipe. It’s like $7 a stick but we swear by it!)
:: 2 egg yolks
:: 1/2 teaspoon salt
:: 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
:: 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
Frosting
:: 1 cup confectioners sugar
:: 1/4 cup margarine
:: 1/4 cup cocoa
:: 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
:: 1/4 cup milk
Step 1 | Cream butter, gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each one. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour (we always sieve our flour) and salt seperately. Slowly add dry mix to the dough, mixing well. Chill the dough for around an hour.
Step 2 | Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Press thumb in each cookie leaving an indentation. Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Do NOT brown.
Step 3 | Let the cookies cool while you whip up your frosting! For the frosting, melt the margarine then add the cocoa. Stir well. Slowly add the confectioners sugar and milk, mixing well. Depending on the consistency you might need to add a little more confectioners sugar or milk. You don’t want the icing to be really thin or it will run off the cookie and you don’t want it to be too thick or it just gets weird and won’t really pour. I typically end up adding around 1/4-1/2 cup of confectioners sugar to make the icing thicker. Mix in vanilla.
Step 4 | Using a teaspoon, fill indentions with frosting. If you want to decorate with sprinkles or hearts make sure you do it right after you pour the icing. This frosting will set so if you try to use sprinkles later on, they won’t stick! Make sure to leave the cookies out for about 1-2 hours so the icing can dry before you store them in an air-tight container.
