With Halloween right around the corner, I thought I’d prepare some ghoulishly delicious thumbprint cookies. I know, I’m a dork…
I flavored the cookie dough with cardamom. Cardamom is a very versatile spice that goes well with just about everything. For the filling, I used lemon apeels and swirled in a little dark chocolate for contrast. If you’re artististically inclined, you could try to draw little bats or scary faces. No matter what you do, I guarantee it’ll be terrifying how fast these cookies disappear!
1. Info for Lemon and Chocolate Filled Cardamom Thumbprints
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 20
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Lemon and Chocolate Filled Cardamom Thumbprints
- 1 egg yolk , optional (see tips for egg allergy)
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 7 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 12 cardamom pods
- 3 ounces lemon apeels (see tips)
- 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate chips
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
3. Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- For the cardamom, remove all the pods from the shells. In a mortar and pestle, grind the cardamom seeds. Crush all the nits and gather the cardamom powder.
- Using a handheld mixer, whisk the egg yolk with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar until you get a pale yellow foam. Add the vanilla extract and the cardamom powder.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Sift all the dry ingredients.
- Cream 8 tablespoons of butter with the remaining powdered sugar (whisk using the handheld mixer to get as much air as possible into the butter). Add the egg mixture and the dry ingredients. Mix with your fingers until the cookie dough is formed. Do NOT over-mix. Transfer the dough to a bowl. Plastic wrap it and place it in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
- For the lemon apeels and dark chocolate chips, use or make a double boiler. Place a pot filled with hot water, topped with a piece of cloth so the bowl does not move and splatter any water, and place a stainless-steel bowl filled with the lemon apeels on top. Melt them with 3 tablespoons of butter, 1-1/2 tablespoons of heavy cream and 1-1/2 teaspoons of corn syrup. Repeat the same procedure with the dark chocolate chips with only 1 tablespoon of butter, 1/2 tablespoon of heavy cream and 1/2 teaspoon of corn syrup. Set aside.
- Shape the cookie dough into 20 1-inch diameter balls. Place them on a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or a sheet of parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes at 350°F. Open the oven. Press the center of the cookie using a melon baller or any small spoon. Bake for another 8 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool down completely to room temperature before taking them off the cookie sheets. They will harden and get firm as they cool down. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of lemon apeel filling in each thumbprint. Using a chopstick, drop in a little chocolate filling and immediately swirl the filling in a pretty design using a toothpick. Let the filling set until firm.
- Enjoy with a tall glass of sharbat (Indian milk drink, scroll down for the picture).
- Bon appétit!
