Chocolate-Strawberry Thumbprints

I feel like I'm finally back! Two bakings and three new recipes within a week? Yowza! It might be a week or two before I bake again though, since I still haven't cleaned the pie drippings out of my oven (which I remembered about while baking these cookies... though it didn't cause a problem since they bake so fast). I have to get off my butt and give my oven a thorough cleaning. Last weekend my brother and I spent a few hours cleaning and organizing the pantry and fridge, so I needed a bit of a kitchen-cleaning break.

I've never made thumbprint cookies before, so I was excited to give them a try. New recipes are always a bit of a thrill (and fear I suppose). Maybe I'm a huge nerd, maybe it's due to estrogen surges, but either way, it has delicious end results!

I had some frozen berries that I wanted to use up, so I looked up berry and cream cheese recipes. I ended up not using the frozen berries (oops), which will give me an excuse to bake again soon. Martha Stewart provided this recipe. This recipe says you will get about 3 dozen, but I got about 20 cookies. If you want the 3 dozen, I suggest doubling the recipe.


Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 6 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
4 ounces strawberries (about 6 medium), stemmed and finely diced

Sift flour, cocoa, and salt into a bowl; set aside. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth; set aside to cool.

Put butter and 1/4 cup granulated sugar into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Mix in yolk, vanilla, and chocolate. Reduce speed to low. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 6 teaspoons granulated sugar into a small bowl. Form dough into 3/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Press center of each ball with your thumb. Bake 10 minutes. Press centers again with end of a wooden spoon, making 3/4-inch indentations. Bake until slightly cracked and set, about 5 minutes more. Cool completely on racks. Unfilled cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 3 days.

Dice up your strawberries...

Stir cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a small bowl. Toss berries with remaining 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar in another bowl.

Spoon cream cheese mixture into center of cookies; top with sugared berries, dividing evenly.

Eat and enjoy!