Halloween Thumbprint Cookies Are Candy’s Greatest Destiny
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
In a perfect world Halloween cookies don’t compete with the annual bonanza of candy corn, peanut butter cups, and other sweets that vie for candy lovers’ attention this time of year. Instead, my ideal Halloween treats celebrate that bounty.
That’s why I was immediately on board with my test kitchen pal Kat Boytsova’s idea to use Halloween candy in buttery thumbprint cookies. It’s the perfect way to remix store-bought candies into a homespun treat and showcase the season’s nutty, chocolaty, and caramelly flavors (and it’s way less fussy than messing with cookie cutters and royal icing).
This easy cookie recipe makes an excellent kids’ craft or a fun Halloween party activity. Depending on the ages of your assistant bakers (and how much time you’re willing to invest), you can make your cookie dough from scratch or pick up a package of store-bought sugar cookie mix or roll of premade cookie dough from your grocery store.
Ready to make your season a little sweeter? Here’s everything you need to know.
What are thumbprint cookies, exactly?
Thumbprints can be made using all sorts of base cookie recipes but typically start with a crispy shortbread or chewy sugar cookie. At some point in the baking process, you indent each cookie with your thumb or the handle of a spoon, then fill it with something sweet—usually fruit jam or chocolate. If you’ve ever seen or made peanut butter blossoms, you get the idea.
Thumbprint cookies are incredibly versatile: Some of our favorite versions start with chocolate hazelnut cookie dough or pecan cookie dough, but classic molasses cookies work well, too, and certainly suit the season. You can flavor a basic sugar cookie recipe with cocoa powder to make chocolate cookies or incorporate nut butter or brown sugar for a chewier texture. Work some food coloring or matcha into a portion of the dough (as in these marbled Christmas spritz cookies) to make swirl patterns. Want extra-colorful Halloween cookies? Use the base of our Tutti-Frutti Thumbprints. Big fan of chocolate chip cookies? Try this chocolate chipless cookie dough, then thumbprint it with whatever chocolate candy your heart tells you to. Need a gluten-free option? These almond cookies would do nicely. Want them to look just like they do in the picture above? Keep on reading; that recipe is coming up. As for popular thumbprint fillings, you’ll usually see homemade or store-bought jam, fruit curd, meringue, chocolate kisses, or dollops of ganache.
How to make thumbprint Halloween cookies:
The key to this easy Halloween cookie recipe is choosing complementary cookie and filling flavors and having everything ready to go. For some thumbprints, you’ll add the filling before you bake, or halfway in. Here, you’ll remove the cookies from the oven once they’re fully baked, then press pieces of candy into each cookie. If you have any individually wrapped candies, make sure to unwrap them before you get started (you can do this while the dough is chilling). If the cookies cool for too long, the surface will can harden and you won’t be able to embed the candy.
The base: For the most consistently sized and shaped cookies, use a tablespoon measure or #60 cookie scoop to portion the dough, then roll it into a ball. Spray your hands with baking spray to prevent sticking, and work with small portions of dough at a time so that it stays nice and cold. If the dough got warm while you were working, consider chilling the sheet pan of dough balls before you bake them.
The filling: Use two to three pieces of small candy per cookie. Things like M&Ms, candy corn, or Reese’s Pieces are ideal. Also perfect: A single fun-sized candy bar square or a Mellowcreme pumpkin. For something a little more macabre (but still full of whimsy), pick up some candy eyes. Steer clear of any candy pieces that are larger than an ounce: They will be too big to nestle inside your thumbprints.
Halloween Thumbprint Cookies
Total Time: 3½ hours (includes chilling dough and cooling cookies)
Yield: Makes about 3½ dozen cookies
Ingredients
2½ cups (312 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 sticks (½ pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preparation
STEP 1: Whisk 2½ cups (312 g) all-purpose flour and 1 tsp. kosher salt in a small bowl to combine. Beat 2 sticks (½ pound) unsalted butter, softened and 1 cup (200 g) sugar with an electric mixer (either a hand mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, then beat in 1 large egg, room temperature, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. At low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 batches just until dough forms. Divide dough in half and form each piece into a 6" disk, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
STEP 2: Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll cookie dough into tablespoon-sized balls and arrange on prepared baking sheets, leaving approximately 3" between each cookie. If dough balls have gotten warm, chill 15 minutes.
STEP 3: Bake cookies 15–20 minutes, switching the sheet pans front to back and between upper and lower racks halfway through.
STEP 4: Immediately after baking, while cookies are still warm, push unwrapped candy—such as M&Ms, miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, candy corn, fun-size candy bars, or chocolate kisses—into center of each cookie.
STEP 5: Cool Halloween cookies on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Do ahead: Dough can be chilled up to 2 days. Cookies keep, layered between sheets of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
A few Halloween cookie flavor combinations we love:
Sugar cookies with 2-3 pieces of candy corn
Sugar cookies with 2-3 M&Ms
Sugar cookies with 2-3 Smarties
Chocolate cookies with Reese’s Pieces
Chocolate cookies with white chocolate kisses
Chocolate cookies with mini peppermint patties
Peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses
Peanut butter cookies with mini peanut butter cups
Chocolate hazelnut chocolate cookies with malted milk balls
Molasses cookies with shards of toffee, such as a Heath Bar
Head this way for more kid-friendly Halloween baking ideas →
This story was originally authored by Katherine Sacks in 2017 and has been updated with additional contributions by Emily Saladino.
Originally Appeared on Epicurious
