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Mini Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

25 reviews / 3.8 average

Sprinkles. Everywhere.

Stuck in the cracks of our placements, bleeding red and green dye under our fingernails, and sticking to my bare feet.

It’s the kind of thing where you say to yourself, “Why did I do that again?”

Not the cookies.

I mean the kids. The kids doing the cookies. In our apartment which.is.tiny.

And then the neighbors getting invited in from their peeking post at the window. The shyness. The laughter. The little hands that made their way into sticky mouths.

The lack of a vacuum cleaner.

Young girls baking cookies.

I’m still sweating.

Women laughing while making cookies.

Highlight reel includes:

  1. Chocolate. Chocolate frosting.
  2. Our sweet, shy neighbor kids accepting the invite to join us.
  3. Realizing they didn’t know what to do with frosting when they started eating it. Straight up. Either that or they’ve been spying on me for the last few months.
  4. My girls, my students, laughing.
  5. My girls laughing so much that it got a little annoying.
  6. Team sprinkle cleanup and the discovery that we do indeed have a broom. #itsbeenfivemonths
  7. Sweating nonstop. I think it helps for losing weight in between cookies or something.
Chocolate thumbprint cookies with sprinkles on a baking pan.

Then I took these glamour shots of the frosted, sprinkled, cutie pie chocolate thumbprint cookies in some pre-typhoon light.

Yeah, like Super Typhoon Bopha that ripped through the Philippines earlier this week. That happened. {FYI: we stayed safe here in Cebu as the storm passed mostly to the south of us. But let’s all please send our thoughts and prayers to the communities in the neighboring islands who lost homes, and also the families who lost loved ones. Although the storm was far less destructive than it could have been, there are many people who experienced and will continue to experience significant loss.}

Chocolate thumbprint cookies on a white plate.

That pre-typhoon light was totally gorgeous. I felt a little distracted and flighty and nervous and all, as I often do about these typhoon sorts of things. Power went out mid-shoot at which point I started to put my stuff away, at which point I realized that you don’t need electricity for a food photo shoot. What?! Somehow that was stressful.

The wind picked up. Just when I thought it wasn’t possible, the light got even better. Sprinkles were flying in the wind and squishing between my toes because team sprinkle cleanup didn’t quite pan out like we had hoped, so there’s still sprinkles. Three days later. Everywhere.

Cookie –> mouth. And again.

These are fudgy bliss. Unless you don’t want them to be fudgy, in which case you can bake them on the longer end and let the frosting set longer and you’ll end up with more of a shortbready sort of thing. No further comment.

If you can seriously resist underbaking these, I don’t think I know you.

Chocolate thumbprint cookies with sprinkles on a baking pan.
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chocolate thumbprint cookies

Mini Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

3.8 from 25 reviews

Description

These mini chocolate thumbprint cookies are adorable and easy to make. And mini means you can eat more, right? I think so. | pinchofyum.com


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 sticks + 2 tablespoons of butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 heaping cup powdered sugar
  • 23 tablespoons hot water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • holiday sprinkles

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and the sugar until smooth. Add the 1/3 cup cocoa powder and mix until incorporated.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Roll into small balls and make an indent with your thumb in the center of the ball. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until dry looking and lightly cracked on the surface but still very soft. I left mine a little bit underdone so they were softer and fudgier, almost like a brownie.
  3. When they come out of the oven, press the centers down again to make a more defined well for the frosting. Allow to cool.
  4. Whisk the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, hot water, and vanilla. Spoon the frosting into the centers of the cookies and add sprinkles. Allow frosting to set before storing in tins.

Notes

Store at room temperature or in the freezer after the frosting has set.

The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: mint chocolate thumbprint cookies, thumbprint cookies, chocolate thumbprint cookies

PS. I tried/started/practiced making a video on my iPhone. Fun times! What do you cool kids think are the best movie making apps?

And no, those are not my pajamas. Nope nope nope.

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154 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    So glad to hear that you guys are okay; the pictures of the devastation look terrible and the numbers of people killed/homes destroyed do seem to have gone up hugely in the last couple of days. My thoughts are with everyone.

    Awkward segue into how cute & delicious these cookies look (but they do).

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I’ve heard from people “on the front lines” that it’s even worse than what we’ve seen in the newspapers because there is no coverage in the villages that were hit the hardest. I have a few friends who will be going to distribute shipments of food to the areas hardest hit later this month and I think there is a fair amount of relief aid active in the region now, but not nearly enough. All that to say, thanks for caring about these people who are hurting. It’s kind of overwhelming.

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I bet those girls had so much fun baking with you! It’s a memory they will never forget I’m sure and look back on fondly.

    The cookies look super cute and easy. I bet my kids would have lots of fun making these.

    Great recipe!

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    How fun!…and messy! I wish I could have been there for the decorating party! The girls are so darling! The cookies look great too. Proud of you Lindsay-girl…and I sure do miss you! :/

    love you – mom

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I’m so glad to hear you are safe, but will definitely keep families in the affected communities in my thoughts!
    Ohhh sprinkles. Why is it that the most fun things in life are often the messiest?
    My mom made jam thumbprints every year at Christmas growing up, so thumbprint cookies have a very special place in my heart. Love your mint-chocolate take!

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I followed the recipe exactly. My cookies came out flat. Taste good but flat. Bsking soda & powder fresh?

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        Yes, we’d recommend making sure your baking soda and baking powder are still fresh!

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I watched my 3 cousins last weekend and we decorated cookies…I didn’t realize going into it that they would decorate, eat, decorate, eat, etc. until I told them they had to decorate a few and save them for their parents!
    Lots of giggling = precious.

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I’m happy to hear that you’re okay and my thoughts are with those affected.

    And these cookies look magical. And those sprinkles… you found those in Cebu?! Or you’re just a good planner? Absolutely love the filling.

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        What do you think of topping with a peppermint kiss instead of frosting and let it melt a tiny bit so that it doesn’t fall off

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Yes! That’s what I wanted to do but, alas, no peppermint here. 🙂 You can do it for me and let me know how it goes!

          1. Pinch of Yum Logo

            How could I incorporate peppermint extract into this recipe? Adding it to the frosting? Or the cookies..? Sorry, not so experienced with adjusting recipes!

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I bet those girls loved baking (and spilling sprinkles) with you! These cookies are adorable and that frosting looks fantastic!

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    The first thing I noticed when I saw this post was the lighting and how different it was for you. I love it though! The pictures are beautiful (as always!)
    The cookies look fantastic and I’m so glad there are people like me out there who like things underbaked; I was seriously just thinking about this today after baking intentional slightly underbaked bars… haha.
    Good luck with the sprinkle mess. 🙂 You guys are so kindhearted it’s amazing!

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    That frosting looks so good! I can imagine why those girls couldn’t stop tasting it! I wouldn’t either.

    My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of the typhoon. So sad to hear about that.

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Watching your video is so cool. As is everything about your blog. And I don’t even bake (hardly ever) and I still enjoy it!

  11. Pinch of Yum Logo

    The photos of the girls decorating is priceless. What a fun time you all must of had! Your iPhone video is great! I’ve never seen thumbprint cookies filled with icing before and I love the idea.

    I’m glad that you made it through the typhoon without any damage. My thoughts and prayers are with all those who were not so fortunate. May relief from the destruction and the loss they have suffered come soon for all of them.