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Halloween Thumbprint Cookies Recipe: Easy, Fun, and Gluten-Free

Halloween Thumbprint Cookies Recipe: it’s fun, it’s festive, and it’s gluten-free.

This easy cookie recipe is a variation on the traditional thumbprint cookie – small rolled cookies with wells pressed in the center filled with a yummy topping.

It’s a great cookie recipe for kids. They love to roll the balls of cookie dough, dip them in cookie decorations or sprinkles, and press their fingers in the center.

What’s also fun about this recipe is that you can be creative with it by rolling the cookies in any kind of cookie decorations.

Prep time: 20 minutes (more if children are helping)

Bake time: 7-9 minutes

Makes about 3-4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter (any variety)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Cookie decorations, such as colored sugar, decos, or sprinkles

Directions for This Halloween Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Pour cookie decorations into a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg.
4. Scoop dough into large, marble-sized balls, a scant 1 inch in diameter. Roll balls in between the palms of your hands until smooth. Dip balls into cookie decorations to cover them and then set them onto the prepared baking pan, about 2 inches apart. Press your thumb or knuckle in the center of each ball, leaving a small well.
5. Bake cookies 7-9 minutes until cookies are lightly brown around the edges and appear to have no moisture peeking through crackled tops. Do not over bake. Cookies are best when they are still soft with bottoms that are barely light brown. They will set as they cool.
6. Remove cookie trays from the oven. The cookie wells may have risen during baking. If so, press your thumb or knuckle in the center of each well once again, being careful since cookies may be hot.
7. Allow cookies to sit for 5-10 minutes before using a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack. Let cookies cool completely.
8. While cookies cool, mix chocolate filling. Break up baking chocolate into squares and place it in a quart-sized freezer bag. Add butter and corn syrup. Microwave 20 seconds on High. Massage sides of freezer bag to loosen chocolate and mix ingredients together. Repeat once to allow chocolate mixture to become melted and smooth.
9. Clip off a corner of the freezer bag and pipe chocolate filling into the center of each cookie well. Sprinkle each cookie with cookie decorations.
10. Allow chocolate filling to cool and set. Store cookies in an airtight container with waxed paper between layers.

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Get more ideas on our Thumbprint Cookies Pinterest board...

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