Chocolate Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

There's something about thumbprint cookies that just makes them better than your typical cookie. It could be the fact that they're more aesthetically-pleasing, however, thumbprint cookies are so desirable because they feature a bonus treat — the cookie itself, and then whatever that filling is in the middle. In the case of this chocolate salted caramel thumbprint cookies recipe, courtesy of developer Jessica Morone, that filling happens to be a homemade caramel sauce. Combined with a chocolate cookie base, these little treats are something to write home about. "These cookies are just so, so good," Morone corroborates. "The chocolate cookies are chewy, buttery, rich, and filled with an ooey gooey salted caramel."

If the thought of making cookies and filling from scratch has you feeling nervous, you can feel rest assured knowing that this recipe is pretty foolproof. Morone notes that the biggest potential for error comes with making the caramel, but with a bit of caution, you can get through that sticky step with ease. These gooey little confections are ideal for a bake sale, potluck, or office party, though they're also perfectly suited to be a small-scale family treat. As Morone says, "These are great anytime — you don't need to have a special occasion for making these."

To make these chocolate salted caramel thumbprint cookies, you'll need some basic baking ingredients, including unsalted butter, sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt, and heavy cream. And, to put the "salted" in salted caramel, you can also opt to sprinkle flaky sea salt onto the finished cookies. 

The first item to check off the to-do list is making the chocolate cookie batter. In a large bowl, cream 4 tablespoons of butter and ⅔ cup of sugar, until you have a nice and fluffy mixture. Next up, beat in the egg and vanilla extract. 

In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Then, gradually pour the dry mixture into the wet one, beating as you do so until everything is just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then pop the cookie dough into the fridge, allowing it to chill for 1 hour.

When the cookie dough is almost done chilling, get your oven preheating to 350 F. Either grease or line a couple of baking sheets, then grab your cookie dough, and shape it into 1-inch balls. Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets, then give them each that thumbprint shape in the middle. You can do this by either pressing your thumb into the center of the dough, or you can use the back of a wooden spoon. 

Pop the cookies into the oven to bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Once they're done baking, remove the cookies from the baking sheets, and place them onto wire racks to cool.

As the cookies are cooling, make the caramel sauce. Place a large, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, then add in the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Be sure to stir frequently, and over the course of 5 to 7 minutes, the sugar should melt down into a very dark liquid. Keep in mind that this is the one step in the recipe that could yield disastrous results, but Morone has some advice to get you through it. "You want to make sure that the heat isn't too high when you are cooking the sugar, or it could just end up burning — you want it to be closer to medium than high," she explains. "Just watch it to make sure that it doesn't cook too long, and burn before you add the butter."

Once the sugar has liquified, add the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter, and reduce the heat to medium-low. If you add the butter as soon as the sugar has melted, Morone notes that it will help ensure that the sugar doesn't become a burnt, inedible mess. Then, stir in the heavy cream, and allow the mixture to come to a boil for 1 minute as you stir constantly. Remove the caramel from the heat, and stir in the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, then pour it into a bowl, and let it cool down for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Finally, simply spoon the caramel sauce into the center of each thumbprint cookie, and optionally sprinkle each with some flaky sea salt to really hone in on that salted caramel aspect. You'll want to give that caramel just a little bit of time to set, then voila, your cookies are ready to be served. "The chocolate of the cookie is really rich and deep, and the caramel is soft, sweet, and just salty enough to be really satisfying," Morone describes. "I love the chocolate and caramel combination." Indeed, it's a combination so good, you don't really need to pair these cookies with anything else — they're absolutely delicious on their own.

This recipe does yield 18 cookies, so you may have leftovers. "You will want to store these covered [in an even layer] on a plate (the caramel [makes] them hard to stack), and they will last about 3 days," Morone says.