As the song says, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! How can anyone argue with such a classic song? It’s a season of hope and new life. A season of forgiveness and peace. A season of thinking beyond yourself!
In effort to share this brimming holiday joy, I make batches, and BATCHES…and batches of cookies to share with our neighbors, friends, and family. This year I hope to share them all with you as well! I always stick with a few tried-and-true recipes, then branch out and experiment a little!
These cookies are one of my favorites. You just can’t beat the delicate buttery texture of good shortbread cookies. In fact, I’m often tempted to think EVERY cookie should start as a shortbread cookie! Add caramel or chocolate-hazelnut, top them with sea salt
Thumbprints are easy to make. Your kids will have a marvelous time rolling the balls and making the thumbprints. Yet make sure an adult adds the hot caramel and chocolate! You can find canned Dulce de Leche
To make:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Scrape the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour a little at a time, until it is just combined.
Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1 oz. balls—about 1 ½ tablespoons. Place them on the cookie sheets and make a deep indention in each cookie, with your thumb. Press any cracks back into place.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes. It will look like the craters have disappeared, but when the cookies cool, they’ll be back!
Scoop the Dulce de Leche into a quart-size freezer bag. Microwave it for 30-60 seconds until thin, like melted peanut butter. The bag may be hot, so wrap it in a small towel. Snip a hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze about 1 ½ tsp. of caramel into the centers of 24 cookies. Tap the cookies gently to help the caramel fill in the entire indention.
While the caramel is still a little tacky, sprinkle each cookie with course sea salt. Repeat this process with melted Nutella
Allow the Dulce de Leche and Nutella to cool for a little while before serving, so the centers can set.
*You could put them in the refrigerator to speed this up!
Recipe: Dulce de Leche and Nutella Thumbprints
Ingredients
- 4 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 lb.)
- 1 1/3 cups of sugar
- 1 ¼ tsp. vanilla
- ½ tsp. salt
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 – 13 oz. can Nestle La Lechera, Dulce de Leche (caramel)
- 1 small jar Nutella
- Course sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Scrape the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour a little at a time, until it is just combined.
- Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1 oz. balls—about 1 ½ tablespoons. Place them on the cookie sheets and make a deep indention in each cookie, with your thumb. Press any cracks back into place.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes. It will look like the craters have disappeared, but when the cookies cool, they’ll be back!
- Scoop the Dulce de Leche into a quart-size freezer bag. Microwave it for 30-60 seconds until thin, like melted peanut butter. The bag may be hot, so wrap it in a small towel. Snip a hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze about 1 ½ tsp. of caramel into the centers of 24 cookies. Tap the cookies gently to help the caramel fill in the entire indention.
- While the caramel is still a little tacky, sprinkle each cookie with course sea salt. Repeat this process with melted Nutella and the remaining 24 cookies.
- Allow the Dulce de Leche and Nutella to cool for a little while before serving, so the centers can set. *You could put them in the refrigerator to speed this up!
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 48 cookies
I love these…and love the flavor! Too funny with the Holidays, I'm good as long as the Christmas music comes the day after Thanksgiving. I hate that they try and squeeze them ;0
These are delightful!
4 sticks of butter? FOUR? That's a stick per dozen. That's 3/4 of a tablespoon per cookie. Or something like that. Wow. These must be absolutely amazing. (They sure do look it.)
Hey now…these look awesome. I think my son will go for these.
Oh my – these look so amazing.
Susan You Go Girl! http://www.ugogrrl.com
Jen made these last night. Mmmmmmmm. Almost as good as when you made them at thanksgiving sis!
Well that is pretty brilliant, I must say–really amps up the whole thumbprint idea…
As if these cookies weren’t all ready awesome. The sea salt puts ‘em over. LOVE this!
Mmmm. This is not helping my close-to-midnight sweets craving one bit.
Gorgeous. I will grab this recipe and bribe someone to make them for me. Yeah, I am not a good cook, to put it mildly!
You had me at Nutella.
These look outrageously good!! I’m a Nutella addict, so I really want to try these! No electric mixer though…
Now this taking thumbprint cookies up a level. These are on the Christmas rotation for this year!
Love it! Dulce de Leche & Nutella oh my.
I love a little sea salt on cookies – it tames the sweetness and makes them so much better!