Delicious Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies: Holiday Recipe

Gingerbread thumbprint cookies are the perfect way to elevate your cookie game. They look fancy, but they are really so easy to make. And lots of fun to make too. Kids love getting involved with making the thumbprint, so it’s the perfect cookie recipe to make with the family. The white chocolate center blends beautifully with each bite of this ginger cookie.

How to Make Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

These thumbprint cookies start with a molasses ginger cookie, add a white chocolate filling, and it is topped with a chocolate drizzle. All three of the layers blend together beautifully to give you the perfect bite. Here’s a look at how to make these thumbprint cookies.

Making the Cookie

The first step is making the cookie. Here are the steps involved.

Ingredients for cookie dough

• ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• ½ cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Step 1: Use a stand mix to cream the softened butter, sugar and brown sugar. Cream until light and fluffy.

Step 2: Add the molasses, egg and vanilla to the bowl. Mix to combine the wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Step 3: Add the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Mix-in the dry ingredients just until they are combined. Do not overmix the dough once the flour has been added.

Step 4: Use a cookie scoop to scoop out about ½ tablespoon of cookie dough. Roll the dough into a ball and place on a sheet of parchment.

Step 5: Use a round teaspoon, a spoon, or the tip of your finger to indent the center of each dough ball. Chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Step 6: When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set. If needed, indent the center of the cookie again so that there’s room for the filling.

Make the Filling

Ingredients for filling:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon molasses
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Step 1: Combine the white chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small saucepan. Melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly until it is smooth and creamy. Remove from the heat.

Step 2: Add the ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and molasses to the white chocolate mixture. Transfer the filling to a piping bag, or use two spoons to fill the center of each cookie. You need to work quickly before the filling sets up. If needed, reheat just until softened again.

Make the Drizzle

Melt some white chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals until it is melted and smooth. Use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. Or, transfer the melted chocolate to a small piping bag.

Tips for Success

These gingerbread thumbprint cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. However, because the filling contains heavy cream the cookies need to be refrigerated.

Depending upon the size of the cookies that you make, you should get about 48-60 cookies per batch. This makes these cookies perfect for a party, or large gathering where you need a lot of cookies.

I think that these cookies are best when served at room temperature so that the cookie and filling are nice and soft. Pull them out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving so that they soften up a bit. Alternatively, you can hold off on filling the cookies until you need them. This is the way I prefer to make these cookies.

If you bake and fill on separate days, it means that you don’t need to refrigerate the cookies until needed. Simply bake the cookies and store in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two. I personally would only wait a day as I think cookies are always best when eaten soon after baking.

When I want to bake these gingerbread thumbprint cookies for a Christmas party, I bake the cookies and store them overnight. In the morning I make the filling and continue the process of filling the cookies and adding the drizzle. If you want to cut down on the work required, you can always prepare the filling the night before and refrigerate until needed. However, reheating is required in order to get the filling soft again.

I think that these gingerbread thumbprint cookies are so pretty, and are the perfect cookie to make for a holiday party. Your guests will love the classic gingerbread flavors in these gingerbread thumbprint cookies, but the added bonus of having a filling and white chocolate drizzle really boosts the flavors and make this cookie something special. No one needs to know how easy, and fun, these cookies are to make. Just let them enjoy these yummy treats, and the rest can be our little secret.

Here are some more of my favorite molasses and ginger flavored cookies. These are two of my favorite flavors so I have tons of molasses cookies recipes. I hope you give one a try!

Pepperkaker: a Swedish Christmas cookie. Thin, flaky, and delicious.

Molasses Spice Cookies: a molasses gingersnap cookie that is loaded with tons of great spices.

Soft and Thick Molasses cookies

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