Fudge Sundae Cookies

If you couldn't already tell, I love thumbprint cookies. The base is a delicious butter cookie. From there you can roll the dough in chopped nuts, coconuts, toffee bits, etc. Then you make a little indent with your thumb and fill it with anything delicious like melted chocolate, nutella, fruit jam, lemon curd, the possibilities are endless!

For my Fudge Sundae Cookies, I rolled them in sliced almonds then topped them with chocolate and a cherry. The perfect hot fudge sundae in a cookie!

Fudge Sundae Cookies
Makes: 18 cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
18 maraschino cherries
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
1 egg, beaten
3 oz (1/2 cup) semi-sweet chocolate
1 tbsp unsalted butter

• Sift together the flour and salt. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip together the butter and sugar on medium for about two minutes until light and fluffy.
• Mix in the vanilla on slow speed until combined.
• Add the flour mixture in three additions until completely combined. The dough should be the texture of bread crumbs.

• Scoop out two tablespoons of cookie dough, about the size of a golf ball. Roll the dough into a ball.
• Roll the ball in the beaten egg, then in the almonds until it is completely coated.
• Place the cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper then firmly place your thumb into the center of the ball and make an indent.
• Repeat until the baking sheet is full. You will likely need to make two batches.
• Bake at 350° F for 16 - 18 minutes until the cookies are slightly browned and firm.
• Let cool for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
• Melt the chocolate and butter together. You can do this either in the microwave or in a bowl over some boiling water. Just be sure not to overheat the chocolate. You don't want it to seize up (turn dry and crumbly).
• Place about a teaspoon of the chocolate mixture in the thumbprint of each cookie. Then top each cookie with a cherry.

Spumoni Cookies

I love the pistachio commercials lately. They've got some pretty funny ones. Matt and I saw one a couple of nights ago and it brought back memories of how I used to love spumoni as a kid (and still do!). Almost as instantly as I thought of spumoni, the idea of spumoni cookies popped into my head. I made sure to write the idea down so I wouldn't forget. However, the idea has been haunting me for the last couple days. I couldn't stop thinking about them. So tonight I finally broke down and got a few ingredients to give it a try. Believe it or not, this was my first try at the recipe and I think it's pretty much perfect! Some things were just meant to be...

Spumoni Cookies

Yield: about 3 dozen
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz white chocolate chips (1 package)
1/2 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
10 oz jar of maraschino cherries, stems removed and cut in half

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Mix with a whisk until the flour and cocoa are evenly combined. Set aside.
• Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer.
• Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 3 additions, mixing for only about 3 seconds each time. You don't want to over-mix the cookies. The dough will be extremely thick; that's exactly what you want.
• Add the white chocolate chips, pistachios, and cherries. Mix for another 3 seconds until combined.
• Spoon out 2 tablespoons of dough - about the size of a golf ball. Roll the dough between your hands into a ball shape. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave at least 2 inches between cookies.
• Bake at 350F for 12 - 14 minutes until firm but not crisp.
• Allow to cool for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. If you skip this step, your cookies will crumble apart.

Isn't Lola so helpful?!

I was thinking about turning these into ice cream sandwiches with spumoni ice cream in the middle. Too much? Maybe. But the only reason I didn't was because I couldn't find spumoni ice cream at Walmart tonight *runs away in shame*

Notes:

1. This is a great recipe to start practicing prepping your mise-en-place with. This term refers to the practice of getting all of your ingredients ready before you start cooking. I'm not saying you need your vanilla ready to go in a tiny little bowl like you see on tv. But just have all of your ingredients out of the cupboard and ready to go; have the pistachios chopped and the cherries stemmed and halved; have the baking soda, cocoa, etc ready; have your measuring instruments out; etc. This will make cooking and baking much easier.
2. If you've never used parchment paper before, I heavily encourage you to start now. Once you use it, you won't know how you ever survived with out it. Your cookies and other baked goods will never stick to your pans ever again. It can be found at any store in the paper goods aisle next to the tin foil and plastic wrap. It's about $4 for a roll. But that will last you a while and it's well worth it!