Coconut, Almond & Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Carrot-Mango Cakes

Buttery thumbprint cookies, laced with three extracts and coconut, sport a pool of decadent dark chocolate ganache that is delicately garnished with more coconut and toasted almond slices. Pictured with our Carrot-Mango Cakes.

Coconut, Almond & Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Serves: approximately 45
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 3⁄4 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1⁄2 cup finely minced desiccated, unsweetened shredded coconut*
  • Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache (recipe follows)
  • Garnish: coconut flakes and chopped toasted almond slices
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line several rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and salt with a mixer at high speed until thick and creamy, approximately 4 minutes. Beat in egg and extracts until blended. Beat in flour and coconut until combined.
  3. Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a very large open-star tip (Hobby Lobby #8B). With piping bag perpendicular to prepared baking sheets, pipe cookie dough 2 inches apart into 1 1⁄4-inch-wide upright dollops. Using a floured thumb or a rounded measuring teaspoon, make a deep and wide indentation in the center of each dollop.
  4. Bake until cookies are set and edges are very light golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. (Using a rounded measuring teaspoon, lightly press center indentations again, if necessary.) Transfer cookies to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
  5. Just before serving, spoon Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache into the centers of cookies.
  6. Garnish with coconut shreds and chopped toasted sliced almonds, if desired. Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container, and refrigerate.
Notes
*If using a different type of coconut (longer shreds) combine with flour and pulse mixture in a food processor to finely chop coconut. This is necessary for the texture of the cookie as well as allowing the dough to pass through the piping tip easily.

Kitchen Tip: If dough becomes too soft to hold its shape when piped or baked, refrigerate dough briefly until desired consistency is reached.

Make-Ahead Tip: Cookies can be made a few weeks in advance, stored in an airtight container with layers separated with wax paper, and frozen. Let thaw before filling with ganache.

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache
Serves: 1 cup
 
Two basic ingredients combine for a luscious filling that is tempting to eat by itself with a spoon.
Ingredients
  • 1⁄2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1⁄2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips*
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan, heat cream until very hot, bubbles form around edge of pan, and cream is steaming. Remove pan from heat. Add chocolate. Let sit until chocolate melts, approximately 1 minute. Stir until completely smooth.
  2. Transfer ganache to a heatproof bowl. Let cool until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 minutes. (To speed up cooling process, refrigerate, if desired, checking every 10 minutes to make sure ganache is not solidifying.)
Notes
*We used Nestlé Toll House.

 

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