Dark Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Eggnog Ganache
Four Dozen Cookies
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp instant espresso powder
8 Tbsp (one stick) unsalted butter
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I use morsels)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, cold
1 ½ tsp vanilla paste
Sanding sugar, for rolling
Eggnog Ganache:
1 cup white chocolate, roughly chopped (Again, I use morsels)
1/3 cup eggnog
1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon and instant espresso powder.
2) Melt the dark chocolate and butter together using a double boiler method (a bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water).
3) Remove the bowl from the pan and whisk in the sugar – the mixture will turn grainy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is smooth and thick. Whisk in the vanilla paste.
4) Add the dry mix to the chocolate and fold together until the flour disappears. Cover the dough with plastic and chill for at least two hours.
5) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough into a rounded tsp ball and roll in your hands. Then roll the dough balls in the sanding sugar to coat. Place them on the cookie sheet, allowing them 1 ½” to spread while baking. Steadying the dough balls with your fingers, use the end of a wooden spoon to press an indentation in the middle. Do not press all the way through!
6) Bake each pan for 10 minutes, rotating after 7 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool and repress the indentation as it will puff while baking.
7) For the ganache. Bring the eggnog to a simmer and then pour it over the white chocolate. Let sit for 4-5 minutes and then stir until smooth. Using a small spoon, or piping bag, fill the indentations with the eggnog ganache.
8) During the holidays, after the ganache is almost set (about 20 minutes), I sprinkle a little bit of candy cane shards over the ganache for “Santa Bling.”
