These caramel thumbprint cookies have a tender, brown butter thumbprint cookie filled with homemade salted caramel and then drizzled with dark chocolate and flaky sea salt!
They're a rich, indulgent treat for chocolate and caramel lovers alike!
You might also like these chocolate caramel cupcakes or these brown butter sugar cookies!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these salted caramel thumbprint cookies!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. Best of all, brown butter pairs beautifully with the salted caramel. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter! But you can substitute regular unsalted butter instead.
Almond flour - I like substituting a portion of the all purpose flour with almond flour in these cookies! It yields a more tender cookie with just that slight almond flavor. It also helps the thumbprint cookies hold their shape. But you can leave it out if desired!
Dark chocolate - This is optional but I like to drizzle a little melted dark chocolate on top of the salted caramel cookies!
Flaky sea salt - Since the caramel is super sweet, flaky sea salt cuts the sweetness for a balanced sweet and salty combo! I love using Maldon Flaky Sea Salt because it has the best flavor and texture.
Salted caramel - I prefer to use my homemade salted caramel to fill the thumbprint cookies. I've included how to make salted caramel in the recipe card below, but you can also check out my full post for how to make homemade caramel for more details and step by step photos!!
How to Make Thumbprint Cookies
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened brown butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Then add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
Fold in the flour, almond flour, and salt until just combined. The dough should come together into a ball and still be slightly sticky.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. I use a size 20 cookie scoop.
Lightly flour the back of a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon and press into your dough balls to flatten them slightly and create a deep divot in the top.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes (or the fridge for 40 minutes) before baking to allow the cookies to firm back up. This ensures the cookies won't spread during baking.
While the cookies are chilling, preheat your oven to 350°F.
Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are set and just starting to brown. Bake on the middle rack of the oven and rotate the pan halfway through baking for the best results.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack.
Once the cookies are fully cooled to room temperature, fill with about 2 teaspoons of homemade salted caramel. Then return to the fridge for 30 minutes to let the caramel firm up.
Melt the dark chocolate and let cool slightly. Then transfer to a piping bag (or small plastic bag) and cut the tip off to make a small hole. Then drizzle the melted dark chocolate over the caramel thumbprint cookies and sprinkle with extra flaky sea salt!
Why do I have to chill the dough?
Chilling the dough is super important for a few reasons!
First, letting the dough rest gives the flour time to hydrate. Eggs are the only liquid in these chocolate caramel thumbprint cookies and it takes flour a long time to absorb that moisture. When the flour is hydrated it helps contain the spread of the cookie so that you get a nice set edge and soft, chewy center.
Similarly, the brown butter needs to be as cold as possible before baking so that the cookies don't spread too much and are able to hold their thumbprint shape!
Tips for Perfect Cookies
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, crumbly cookies that don't spread.
Make sure your oven is the proper temperature! Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is exactly 350°F. If the oven is too cold, the cookies will spread too much and if it's too hot they centers won't bake all the way through. For example, my oven is about 20 degrees off. So I have to set the oven to 370°F in order to get it to bake at 350°F.
Use a lightweight, light colored baking sheet for best results! Believe it or not, a lighter pan makes the cookies bake more slowly than a dark pan, which helps keep them from spreading too much. My favorite pans for baking cookies are:
You also want to use either parchment paper or silicone mats on your cookie sheet to help keep the cookies from spreading.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, on the center rack. This will ensure all your cookies cook evenly and the bottoms don't burn. Then let the cookie sheet cool completely between batches. This ensures the cookies cook evenly and don't spread too much by being put on a hot pan.
Always under-bake the cookies! If you slightly under-bake the cookies (so the centers are still soft when you remove them from the oven), they'll stay soft and chewy for days!
Do the cookie scoot! In order to get perfectly round cookies, use a large cookie cutter to gently scoot them around as soon as they come out of the oven!
Recipe FAQ's
You can store these cookies in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I personally prefer homemade salted caramel, but you can use your favorite store-bought caramel sauce if you prefer!
Nope! You can regular unsalted butter if you prefer! I just love the way the brown butter pairs with the caramel.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Recipes You Might Like!
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Recipe Card
Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Salted Caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Thumbprint Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup almond flour , substitute all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Topping
- 2 ounces dark chocolate, melted
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
Salted Caramel
- I highly recommend making the salted caramel the night before the cookies so that it has time to fully cool.
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar and stir every 1-2 minutes or so until it begins to melt (the sugar will start to clump up before melting).
- Once the sugar is completely melted and smooth (it should be an amber color), immediately remove from the heat and stir in the butter until combined (don’t be scared if it bubbles a lot).
- Add in the heavy cream and salt and mix until fully combined and smooth. It won't want to combine at first, but just keep stirring and it will come together.
- Pour the caramel into a heavy glass jar to cool to room temperature. Can be stored in the fridge for up to a month!
- If you make the caramel the night before, it can sit covered at room temperature overnight so that it's a nice pourable consistency.
Thumbprint Cookies
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened brown butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Then add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
- Fold in the flour, almond flour, and salt until just combined. The dough should come together into a ball and still be slightly sticky.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. I use a size 20 cookie scoop.
- Lightly flour the back of a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon and press into your dough balls to flatten them slightly and create a deep divot in the top.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes (or the fridge for 40 minutes) before baking to allow the cookies to firm back up. This ensures the cookies won't spread during baking.
- While the cookies are chilling, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are set and just starting to brown. Bake on the middle rack of the oven and rotate the pan halfway through baking for the best results.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack.
- Once the cookies are fully cooled to room temperature, fill with about 2 teaspoons of homemade salted caramel. Then return to the fridge for 30 minutes to let the caramel firm up.
- Melt the dark chocolate and let cool slightly. Then transfer to a piping bag (or small plastic bag) and cut the tip off to make a small hole. Then drizzle the melted dark chocolate over the caramel thumbprint cookies and sprinkle with extra flaky sea salt!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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