Mint Hot Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Tis The Season

A favorite wintertime beverage in adorable thumbprint cookie form.

These cookies are a fun and festive homage to the the classic holiday flavor duo of peppermint and chocolate. Made with our limited batch Peppermint Hot Chocolate mix—which simplifies the baking process by taking care of a few of the ingredients and steps for you—these extra special cookies are actually quite simple and fast to make.

I topped these with toasted Nomadic Kitchen Confections marshmallows—but am also imagining how delish they would be with a tiny dollop of swiss meringue and/or crushed candy canes on top!

Ingredients:

Cookies:

1 bag of ALKAME CO Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix

1 C + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour (gf or regular)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/8 C maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg plus + 1 egg yolk, room temperature (place eggs in warm water bath for 10 minutes to speed this process)

Chocolate Filling:

1/2 C chocolate chips (dark or semisweet—according to your taste for sweetness)

1/2 C half + half

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

  1. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.

  2. Cream softened butter in a large mixing bowl using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until light, fluffy and pale in color. Slowly drizzle in maple syrup and mix for another minute.

  3. Add the room temperature egg yolk, then full egg, then vanilla to the butter and maple mixture, mixing on low after each addition. Be sure to scrape the sides of mixing bowl during this step. If mixture separates at this point, don’t worry as it will come back together when you add the dry mix to it.

  4. Add dry mix to wet mix in two batches. Mix on low briefly until everything is uniform and incorporate.

  5. Scoop a slightly rounded tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball before placing on full sized cookie sheet. Repeat, spacing cookies, until all dough is used.

  6. Press the back of a round teaspoon into the center of each dough ball to make the well for the chocolate filling. Press until the top of the teaspoon is about even with the top of the dough, twirling and wiggling it slightly to make the indent and remove it from the dough.

  7. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. I prefer 10 for a fudgier cookie!

  8. Remove from the oven and place cookies on cooling rack.

  9. While cookies are cooling, make the filling by first chopping the chocolate chips and placing them in a medium bowl. Then heat the half and half in a small sauce pan until it barely reaches a simmer. Pour the half and half over the chocolate chips and let sit for 3 minutes before stirring until you reach a smooth, even consistency.

  10. Once the cookies are most of the way cooled, carefully spoon in the chocolate filling. Once that has cooled and set, add your toppings of choice.

Cookies will keep several days in a sealed container.

Rachael Keener