These super original Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Thumbprints are the ultimate cookie to make for your valentine. Buttery chocolate thumbprints, rich with cocoa, are filled with a layer of strawberry preserves, and then topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate drizzle.
What happens when you can’t decide between flavors? You use both. I wanted to put strawberry jam in the center of these thumbprints – my idea all along was Chocolate Strawberry Thumbprints, so that’s what I wanted to do. However, my Valentine wanted just chocolate. Because he’s my Valentine, I thought I ought to take his feelings into consideration when creating a Valentine’s Day recipe.
This was the compromise: BOTH. And now we are BOTH very happy.
We agreed that the chocolate thumbprints all alone are totally wonderful, but we were divided on how to take them to the next level. The chocolate thumbprints cookies themselves are buttery, rich with chocolate, and soft. A thumbprint usually has to be a little sturdy to hold the filling. These are sturdy, but still soft. They’re soft and chewy, and have no crispiness whatsoever.
The sweet strawberry preserves are such a nice change in texture and flavor, really breaking away from all the richness of the chocolate. It’s like a bright, smooth, and sweet surprise in the center. So sugary, but light… not heavy. Cuts through all the richness.
Then the luscious chocolate ganache on top is creamy, rich, and well, luscious. There is scarcely a better food on the planet than chocolate ganache, ya know? It’s amazing stuff.
These Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Thumbprints are a new favorite recipe of mine on the entire blog. I’ve never seen another cookie like these, first of all, so I’m proud of them for their originality. I was really excited about the novel idea here. And second, they are so, so good. They are an absolutely delicious cookie, and I’m thrilled with how wonderfully they turned out!
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Thumbprints
Ingredients
For thumbprint cookies:
- 1/2 c. butter softened
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp. milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 c. flour
- 1/3 c. baking cocoa
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. red sprinkles
For filling:
- 1/2 c. strawberry preserves
- 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 c. heavy cream
- 3 tbsp. butter
Instructions
For thumbprint cookies:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. Cream until light and fluffy.
- Beat in egg yolk, milk, and vanilla.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl, and beat until just combined. If batter is crumbly, add about 1 tbsp. milk, or enough that dough easily forms into balls.
- Shape into 1-inch balls.
- Roll each ball in red sprinkles until well-coated.
- Place two inches apart on parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking sheets.
- Press an indentation in the center of each dough ball using your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until set when you lightly touch an edge (carefully).
- If desired, you can use the end of a wooden spoon to reshape the indentation in the cookies.
- Remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
For filling:
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat strawberry preserves for 30 seconds, or until thin and runny.
- Spoon about 1/2 tsp. into each thumbprint. You want it to fill the well of each thumbprint about 2/3-full.
- Place in the fridge for 10 minutes, or until jam is set.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, heavy cream, and butter.
- Microwave on high at 30-second intervals until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Pipe or spoon into the center of each thumbprint, covering the strawberry jam.
- Allow 10-15 minutes for the ganache to set.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate chips, if desired. Allow to set, and devour!
You may also like:
Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprints with Kahlua Ganache
Snickerdoodle Thumbprints with Cookie Butter Buttercream
Strawberry Cookie Cups with White Chocolate Buttercream
