Christmas Cookies Day 1 – Chocolate Mint Thumbprints

Yesterday I was literally in the kitchen for most of the day, baking cookies. I baked about 13 dozen cookies, but only two kinds so far. One I still have to finish and decorate, so you will see those later. I am only about half way done too. As soon as I finish writing this, I will be back in the kitchen once more, baking yet again.

I am sharing my chocolate mint thumbprints with you today. I ran out of the mint kisses, so there are two different kinds of chocolate mints used here, but they all taste good, and look good, too, which is really all that counts. 🙂

As usual, I took a recipe and made it my own. The recipe I used was way to dry and needed some more moisture, so I added an egg. Then I made it chocolate instead of plain. You can make these either plain of chocolate. If making them chocolate, just add 2/3 cup of cocoa powder to the mix. Initially I was going to roll them in sprinkles before baking them, but the sprinkles didn’t stick to the dough. No worries. Time for Plan B. I rolled them in sugar instead. They came out just fine. Delicious! 🙂

Chocolate Mint Thumbprints

Preheat oven to 350* F or 190*C.

Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

1 bag of chocolate mint Kisses (or whatever chocolate if you prefer)

1 cup or 2 sticks of softened butter

1 cup powdered or confectioner’s sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1 egg

2/3 cup cocoa powder

sugar for rolling the dough balls in

Mix the butter, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla together until creamy, then add the chocolate flour mixture and mix just until everything is blended.

Form the dough into dough balls, then roll each ball into the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets. Lightly press the balls to flatten them. Press a well into the center of each cookie, gently with your thumb, and place 1 Kiss or chocolate in the center of the well.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies are set. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet then remove and transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

There are plenty more cookies coming your way, so stay tuned. It’s cookie time!

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah, and Happy Holidays. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.