Gingerbread men, step aside! These flavorful Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies, packed with chewy caramel, give an old favorite a new twist!
It’s that time of year again! Time for the Christmas Cookie Exchanges. It’s always fun to give and get different kinds of cookies. These cookies are soft and chewy, with a big punch of flavor. Then the centers are filled with delicious soft caramel. They are sticky and sweet and pair great with a big, cold glass of milk.
Your friends and family won’t be disappointed to receive these Caramel Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies! They are perfect for Christmas and will definitely become a new seasonal family favorite!
How to Make Thumbprint Cookies
Prep Work:
To make these cookies, you’ll start out by mixing up the wet ingredients for the cookie dough in a large bowl. Those ingredients are just a simple mix of butter, brown sugar, an egg, milk and molasses.
Then in another bowl, you stir together the dry ingredients which consists of flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
The you combine the dry ingredients in with the wet. Once you have your dough, you cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour, up to overnight.
Baking
Line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Place the coconut sugar in a shallow bowl. Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into even 1 1/2 Tablespoon balls of dough. Roll the dough in the sugar, and then place on the prepared cookie sheets, at least 2″ apart.
Use a half teaspoon to press down on the center of each cookie to make an indent.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes until spread and well browned. Immediately press each cookie with a half or whole teaspoon to re-assert the indentation. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets before attempting to move to a cooling rack, if desired.
Caramel
In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the caramel squares and 2 Tablespoons of the heavy cream. Heat for 30 seconds, stir well, and reheat as needed, stirring well in between each reheating. Add more heavy cream, as needed, to make the caramel smooth.
Working quickly, portion a teaspoon of the melted caramel into each indentation of the cookies. Once all indents are filled with caramel, drizzle the remaining caramel over the cookies. Allow the caramel to set for 10 minutes before serving or storing.
Tips
- Before baking, allow the butter and eggs to come to room temperature. This helps produce a fluffy baked good.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough. The longer you chill it, the easier it will be to handle and keep the indention.
- Parchment paper is a lifesaver with baking. Once you pull the cookies from the oven, the parchment paper makes it so easy to simply slide everything off the baking sheet to cool.
More Recipes to Try
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Caramel Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies
Description
Gingerbread men, step aside! These flavorful Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies, packed with chewy caramel, give an old favorite a new twist!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger (or more to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 cup caramel squares
- 2–4 tablespoons heavy cream (as needed)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and milk and beat to combine. Add the molasses and beat until fully combined. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
- Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no dry patches remain.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place dough in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Place the coconut sugar in a shallow bowl.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into even 1 1/2 Tablespoon balls of dough.
- Roll the dough in the sugar, and then place on the prepared cookie sheets, at least 2″ apart.
- Use a half teaspoon to press down on the center of each cookie to make an indent.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes until spread and well browned.
- Immediately press each cookie with a half or whole teaspoon to re-assert the indentation.
- Allow to cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets before attempting to move to a cooling rack, if desired.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the caramel squares and 2 Tablespoons of the heavy cream. Heat for 30 seconds, stir well, and reheat as needed, stirring well in between each reheating.
- Add more heavy cream, as needed, to make the caramel smooth.
- Working quickly, portion a teaspoon of the melted caramel into each indentation of the cookies.
- Once all indents are filled with caramel, drizzle the remaining caramel over the cookies.
- Allow the caramel to set for 10 minutes before serving or storing.
