Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies
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Made with fudgy chocolate shells and topped off with mounds of creamy peanut butter fudge then drizzled with dark chocolate, these chocolate peanut butter thumbprint cookies are the perfect marriage of peanut butter and chocolate.
What’s your policy on naps? Do you have one? Is it weird that I do?
Mine is that I should under no circumstances be permitted to take one unless I’m 100% certain that I won’t encounter another living being for at least 12 hours. Zach knows this. I haven’t napped in years, partly because they render me useless and intolerable for the rest of the day — it’s bad for my marriage.
Naps sound nice on paper — get comfy, close your eyes (maybe dream about peanut butter thumbprint cookies — we’re getting there), and wake up feeling like Snow White, whistling and singing to forest fauna while you accomplish miserable chores with all the energy and enthusiasm that only a Disney princess could muster. That is not my reality.
I emerge from naps as Gollum, my tongue ready to unleash vitriol at the most innocent transgressions… my attitude toward everything is we hates it!
So, while I’m really, really craving a nap to get me through this Monday after an extremely busy baking/video-shooting/dish-washing weekend (as you might’ve seen on Facebook), I’m refraining.
I am, however, guzzling caffeine and easing the burden of the workweek with chocolate peanut butter thumprint cookies.
I originally published this recipe nearly two years ago and I’ve used the chocolate cookie base over and over again. No matter how sleep deprived you are, you can make this recipe easily.
It’s an extremely versatile dough that I’ve used to make the crisp sugar cookie part of my galaxy cookies, and I’ve adapted it to make non-chocolate thumbprint cookies and copycat tagalong cookies, to name a few.
Unlike with the galaxy cookies, they’re very soft cookies (so make sure you let them cool completely on the cookie sheets — they could break if you try to move them early). The trick is to bake them for less time than you would bake the thinly rolled cutouts of the galaxy cookies (simple, I know, but the reduced baking time transforms them into a completely differently textured cookie).
I made a few small changes to the original fudge filling to make it faster and simpler without sacrificing any taste. It’s creamy and melts away, sweet peanut butter on your tongue.
The peanut butter dollops are a little messy as you pile them into their chocolate craters, I gently swirled them with my fingertips to make them a little more neat and uniform, and tried to hide their still semi-sloppy swirls beneath dark chocolate tiger stripes.
No such thing as too much chocolate, right?
On a cold and blustery sleep-deprived Monday, these chocolate peanut butter cookies are my precious pick-me-ups to help get you through the week.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprints
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup (135 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
- 2 cups (240 g) flour
- ¼ cup (25 g) cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Fudge Filling
- 1 cup (170 g) premium white chocolate chips
- ½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter (not natural)
- 1 Tablespoon salted butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (43 g) dark chocolate melting wafers, melted according to package instructions, optional
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C)
- Place butter in a large bowl and using an electric beater or stand mixer beat until creamy and smooth.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.⅔ cup (135 g) sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add lightly beaten egg yolk. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to evenly incorporate all ingredients and stir in vanilla extract.1 large egg yolk
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt.2 cups (240 g) flour, ¼ cup (25 g) cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mix. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula frequently--this is a dry mix and you want to make sure you don't leave residual dry mix at the bottom of the bowl.
- Roll dough into 1 ½" balls. Place balls on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and press down with your thumb in each, creating a (flatter) thumbprint cookie. Place on wax-paper lined plate.
- Place cookies in freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking to help them keep their shape.
- Once cookie dough has chilled, bake on 350F (177C) for 10-11 minutes
- Immediately upon removing cookies from the oven, re-indent the thumbprints using the rounded back of a teaspoon (do not use your thumb as the cookies will be too hot).
- Allow cookies to cool completely on pan before filling with peanut butter filling.
Peanut Butter Fudge Filling
- Combine peanut butter, white chocolate chips, and butter in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl.1 cup (170 g) premium white chocolate chips, ½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter (not natural), 1 Tablespoon salted butter
- Microwave on 15-second increments, stirring in-between, until chocolate chips are melted and ingredients are well-combined and smooth.
- Stir in vanilla extract.½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Immediately spoon fudge mix into the craters of the cooled cookies.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.¼ cup (43 g) dark chocolate melting wafers
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
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Recipe originally published 4/24/15 — updated 2/13/17
Why can’t natural peanut butter be used? Is it too runny? Could I just thicken it up to use?
Hi Jennifer! Other people have reported using natural peanut butter with mixed results. Some kinds of natural peanut butter do work, and some are just too thin and oily.
Can this dough be made a few days ahead and kept in the refrigerator? Then brought to room temperature and continue on at step 6?
Hi Kathy! I would recommend making the imprints in these before refrigerating for several days. 🙂