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Thumbprint Cookies: Our Christmas Recipe with Chocolate

Step into the festive season with Venchi’s Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies: this recipe pairs a Christmas chocolate cookie with a spiced chocolate ganache. We've perfected the recipe to ensure the shortbread-like cookies are soft and buttery. 

Celebrate Christmas with some special Thumbprint Cookies

Venchi’s Thumbprint Cookie recipe embodies the wholesome spirit of Christmas. Thanks to the surprise addition of nutmeg and cloves in the ganache, these cookies will fill your kitchen with a delicious holiday smell. Thumbprint cookies traditionally come from Sweden, where they’ve been on the country’s Christmas menu since the 1800s. The real name of thumbprint cookies is Hallongrotta, which translates to “strawberry cave” and reflects the cream-coloured outer and red-coloured centre of the original recipe.

Ingredients

  • 230g unsalted butter (softened)

  • 130g sugar

  • 1 large egg

  • 3 teaspoons cocoa powder

  • 100g whole hazelnuts

  • 200g white flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 100g white granulated sugar (for rolling the cookies)

 

Spiced chocolate ganache 

  • 180g semisweet chocolate  

  • 60ml double cream  

  • 1 clove  

  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg  

  • 1 cinnamon stick

 

Step by step instructions

  1. In a food processor, finely grind the whole hazelnuts and then set aside.  

  2. Line a baking tray with baking paper.  

  3. Use an electric mixer to whisk the butter until it is softened.  

  4. Add the sugar to the butter and beat until the colour lightens and the texture becomes fluffy. Mix the egg and cocoa powder and stop when all the ingredients are combined.  

  5. On the low-speed setting, mix the flour, ground hazelnuts and salt.  

  6. Shape the cookie dough into 1” balls and then roll them in the granulated sugar. Place the sugar-coated cookies on the baking tray and repeat until you’ve shaped all the dough.  

  7. Use the back of a wooden spoon to make an indent in the middle of the cookie.  

  8. After you’ve indented every cookie, they need to be put in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes.  

  9. Preheat the oven to 350F and bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes. The cookies are ready when the edges are firm, and the middle is slightly soft. Leave them to completely cool.  

  10. To make the ganache, break up the chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl.  

  11. Pour the cream, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon stick into a small saucepan. Let it slowly simmer until it comes to a gentle boil, and then take it off the heat and remove the cinnamon stick and clove. 

  12. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, leaving it to sit for a few minutes.  

  13. Slowly stir the mixture and finish once the chocolate has completely melted.  

  14. Put the ganache in a piping bag and pipe it into the centre of each cookie. The chocolate will set after a few hours at room temperature. Enjoy!

 

Nutrition Facts

  • Serving: 1 cookie  

  • Calories: 144kcal  

  • Carbohydrates: 18g  

  • Protein: 2g  

  • Fat: 10g 

  • Sugar: 9g

 

Tips and Thumbprint Cookies Variants

Remember one essential tip when baking thumbprint cookies: store them in the freezer after they've been rolled into balls and indented to help set their shape. 

Here are a few popular variations on this recipe you can try:  

  • Peppermint chocolate thumbprint cookies: turn up the Christmas feeling of thumbprint cookies by adding 1/8 of a teaspoon of peppermint extract to the chocolate ganache. Then, crush up candy canes and sprinkle them over the chocolate filling.  

  • Lemon thumbprint cookies: play with sour and sweet flavours with this variation of the thumbprint recipe that features a lemon vanilla cookie dough enriched with a lemon curd centre. 

And if you are searching for a special cake for festive season, try out Venchi’s chocolate bundt cake: another dessert recipe perfect for the holiday table. 

Venchi Chocolate