Chocolate orange thumbprint cookies recipe
We don’t eat many biscuits or cookies in this house (we’re only just opened the box of Christmas biscuits we were give). I’ve made vanilla thumbprint cookies in the past, but I’d had seen a mint chocolate version on Pinterest that I wanted to try. When it came down to it, I decided that instead I’d make chocolate orange thumbprint cookies instead.
If you’ve not come across these cookies before, they’re small cookie type biscuits with a thumbprint indent and a filling. You can make them plain with a bit of jam or chocolate filling. But these chocolate orange thumbprint cookies are more luxurious and rich. Definitely one for the adults, rather than children.
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You could make them with milk chocolate instead of dark for a sweeter, less rich flavour. I’ve used orange extract, but you could just use mint extract for an mint version if you’re more a fan of that flavour. I’d happily eat both.
These cookies would be great as an after dinner treat, or would make a really nice gift nestled in a pretty gift tin. To make them look more professional you could drizzle stripes lines of melted chocolate over the top once cooled. Try white chocolate if you’ve used chocolate on chocolate cookies. Or dark or milk chocolate if you’ve used a white chocolate ganache.
They’re really straightforward to make, and don’t take a lot of time. They can be made and ready to eat in under an hour.
To make chocolate orange thumbprint cookies you simply beat the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolk, and extracts, then flour and cocoa to make a dough.
There’s no need to chill it before using. Then make small balls of dough, rolling in sugar for the crackle effect which adds a bit of sparkle. Then you press a thumbprint in each ball and bake.
The ganache filling is made by melting chocolate and adding double cream and orange extract as it thickens.
Just add this to the imprints once the cookies are cooled, chill until the ganache is cold, then enjoy. I didn’t have any white chocolate, but if I had I’d have made a white chocolate ganache and put in a drop of orange food colouring (like these Wilton concentrated colours*). That would provide the hint that the cookies are chocolate orange flavour.
Chocolate orange thumbprint cookies recipe
Ingredients
- 60g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
- 50g caster sugar
- Unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg yolk
- Flour
- 30g cocoa powder
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1tsp orange extact
- Granulated sugar
For the ganache filling
- 60g chocolate
- 2 tbsp double cream
- ½ tsp orange extract
To make:
1. Preheat oven to 150C / Gas mark
2. Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper or a reusable sheet. You can just grease it, but it’s easier on paper.
3. Melt the chocolate until just smooth, and set aside.
3. Beat together the softened butter and sugar until light and well mixed.
4. Add the egg yolk, vanilla and orange extracts and stir in. Then add the chocolate and stir until smooth.
5. Add in the flour and cocoa powder. It will feel a bit stiff but will come together in a sticky dough. I used my hands to bring it together into the dough as a spoon wasn’t doing much.
6. Take dessert spoon size amounts of dough and roll into balls. You should get between 18-20. Roll each into granulated sugar then put on the baking sheet.
7. Press a thumb gently into each cookie ball to make an indent, and flatten the balls more into round cookie shapes.
8. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until they’re slightly hard at the edges. Mine needed the full 12 minutes as they looked a bit wet when I checked them at 10 minutes. You’ll find they’ll crack a bit around the edges. If the indents have risen just push them back down.
9. Leave to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet on a wire rack, then take off the sheet and cool fully.
10. To make the ganache, melt the chocolate. I used the microwave, heating for 20 second bursts until it was mostly melted, then stirred to melt the rest.
11. Add the cream and stir in. It should get thicker as soon as you add the cream, then the orange extract. It should have a silky and smooth texture and look shiny.
12. Spoon or pipe the ganache into the thumbprint indents in the cooled cookies. And leave to set in the fridge or somewhere cool for around 30 minutes.
13. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Extra tips
For the filling, add the double cream after melting the chocolate – it’s easier to avoid it going grainy which I found when I melted the chocolate with the cream in.
To make more contrast for the ganache, use white chocolate, add the extract and cream, and a drop of orange food colouring. It will give a pretty orange topping and will be a little less rich in taste.
Melt the chocolate the way you like – I use the microwave on medium high, but you can melt the cream and chocolate together in a bain marie – bowl sitting on a saucepan above simmering water.
You can spoon in the ganache to the imprints on the cookies. I used a sandwich bag with a corner cut off (homemade piping bag) – it makes it easier to control.
Let me know if you try this recipe.
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