Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

Holiday baking is in full swing here in the Suznovich house my friends. I absolutely love whipping up yummy treats to give out to friends, family, neighbors, you name it. It’s to the point where I should probably buy stock in cookie tins. I always have my constant recipes that I make no matter what and then usually throw in a couple of new ones to make things interesting. My first new recipe this year is this wonderful and really fun recipe for salted caramel thumbprint cookies. They really remind me of and are inspired by my favorite candy bar, Twix. The chocolatey and deeply flavored cookie crust is just so darn perfect married with the creamy salted caramel center.

The dough for the salted caramel thumbprint cookies really came together easily in my stand mixer. The cocoa powder and brown sugar really gave the dough wonderful flavor.
I used my 1.5 inch cookie scoop to get perfect little mounds of that dough and rolled them into balls. Then the fun thumbprint part of the name came in when I gently pressed my thumb down into the balls of dough to make a perfect indentation to hold the filling.
While the cookies cooled, I made the easy filling. All I did was microwave soft caramel candies and heavy cream together until completely melted into a smooth caramel sauce. I loved that it came together in minutes!
Finally, I just used a heaping half teaspoon to scoop that absolutely luscious caramel into the thumbprint indentations. The cherry on top was sprinkling them generously with sea salt. The sea salt is so incredible with caramel for that balance of sweet and savory.

I let them set in the refrigerator for a couple of hours in a single layer, and then they were ready to package up for gifting! Of course I kept a few for Marc and myself. Salted caramel anything makes me happy, and the cookie crust with it just took it way over the top. It was so fun adding these lovelies to my holiday baking arsenal and I hope you all love them too! xoxo

Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
These salted caramel thumbprint cookies are such a fun and yummy part of any holiday baking with the deeply flavored cookie crust and luscious filling! #cookies #holidaybaking #saltedcaramel #saltedcaramelthumbprintcookies #jeanieandluluskitchen
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
4.8 from 5 votes
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Dough Chilling Time
1 hr
Total Time
45 mins
 

These salted caramel thumbprint cookies are so fun to make and even more fun to eat with a deeply flavored cookie crust and creamy caramel filling! 

Course: Dessert
Keyword: Cookies, Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Servings: 30 cookies
Calories: 293 kcal
Author: Jeanie and Lulu’s Kitchen
Ingredients
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 sticks butter softened to room temperature
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 whole egg yolks
  • 26 whole soft caramel candies unwrapped
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • sea salt as needed
Instructions
  1. First, make the cookie dough. Line two sheet trays with silicone mats or parchment and set up a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set it aside. Then cream the butter and two sugars together in the stand mixer until fluffy. Pour in the vanilla, followed by the two egg yolks. Finally, turn the speed to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients until you have a lovely dough. Use a 1.5 inch cookie scoop to scoop perfect mounds of the dough and round each scoop into a ball. Lay them out on the two sheet trays as you form them. Using that measurement, there should be 30 cookies total with 15 per sheet. They don’t really expand so just leaving a little room is fine. Use your thumb to make a big indentation in the center of each ball of dough, then put the trays in the refrigerator to chill for an hour. 

  2. When the hour is almost up pre-heat the oven to 350. Bake the cookies for about 14-15 minutes, until they just start to crisp around the edges and bake through. Use your thumb to gently press down any rising in the indentations when they come out, then let them cool for a minute. Then transfer them to a cooling rack and start on the filling. Combine the caramel candies and heavy cream in a medium microwave safe bowl and microwave them on high for about a minute. Stir them together, then microwave it again for about another 30 seconds. When you stir them together after this, it should be really smooth and easy to work with. Use a heaping teaspoon to fill the indentation in each cookie, maybe more if your thumb is bigger than mine. Accounting for that, you may have more caramel filling than you need to use in other yummy ways. Once you fill all the cookies, sprinkle them generously with sea salt on top. Let them set completely in the refrigerator, then store them in airtight containers to enjoy or give away! 

Nutrition Facts
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Amount Per Serving (2 cookies)
Calories 293 Calories from Fat 142
% Daily Value*
Fat 15.8g24%
Saturated Fat 9.3g58%
Cholesterol 66mg22%
Sodium 145mg6%
Potassium 80mg2%
Carbohydrates 35.8g12%
Fiber 0.6g3%
Sugar 19.1g21%
Protein 3.4g7%
Calcium 30mg3%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

12 thoughts on “Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies”

  1. 5 stars
    These look absoultely amazing! I am a huge lover of sweet and salty. We are doing our holiday baking this weekend and I am adding these to the mix! I can’t wait to try them!

  2. I’m about to start my holiday baking and am definitely adding this to my list!!

  3. I’m having a massive Christmas cookie baking day with my family next weekend. I’m adding this delicious recipe to the list!

  4. 5 stars
    Made these for Christmas. I think they were my favorites cookies of all that we made this year. Thank you so much for the recipe. They were a bit messy as the dough likes to crack and the caramel leaks, but over night the caramel set up and then there was no more leaking. The flavor and texture is wonderful. Thank you for the recipe.

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