Soft, buttery and indulgent vegan chocolate thumbprint cookies with a dark chocolate ganache filling. These cookies have a brownie-like texture, and don’t need to be chilled beforehand. Just perfect for the holiday season!
Simple ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Vegan butter. A block or stick butter is best for this recipe as we want the cookies to retain their shape after baking. You can still use a spreadable vegan butter, but your cookies will spread out more and will be less rich.
Dairy-free yogurt adds moisture and richness to these cookies. Non-dairy milk will work, but the cookies will dry out quicker.
Sugar doesn’t only sweeten the cookies, but keeps them soft and fudgy. You can also use brown sugar or coconut sugar with slightly different results.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder for the best dark chocolate flavor. Natural cocoa powder will also work, and your cookies will have a slightly different flavor profile (though still delicious).
Baking powder. A small amount of baking powder gives the cookies a little lift. If you want fudgier cookies, feel free to omit the baking powder (I’ve tested this and still loved them).
Dark chocolate and vegan heavy cream for the ganache filling. Alternatively, you may use canned coconut cream with a minor adjustment (see the notes of the recipe card for details)
Making the cookie dough
In a large bowl, beat the wet ingredients (butter, sugar, yogurt and vanilla) together until light and fluffy. An electric hand mixer or stand mixer are best for this. Alternatively, you can use a food processor, or a wooden spoon and a lot of arm power!
Next, add your dry ingredients including the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix until just combined. When measuring the flour and cocoa powder, please use the scoop and level method or an electric kitchen scale. Baking is a science, and if you measure the flour without accuracy, your cookies may be dry.
Your final cookie dough should be soft, fluffy and slightly tacky. You’ll probably want a bowl of the cookie dough by itself!
Assembling the chocolate thumbprint cookies
Roll the cookie dough into around 24 balls, with each being a heaped tablespoon or around 24 grams.
For something extra, I rolled my cookie balls in chocolate sprinkles and granulated sugar. You can also roll them in festive sprinkles, chopped nuts or finely shredded coconut!
To indent each cookie, I recommend using a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon or the back of a wooden spoon. You can also use a beverage muddler or a ‘honey dipper’ (the only thing I use a honey dipper for haha). Of course, you can just use your thumb, though you might get cookie dough under your nails.
The cookie dough is quite soft so the balls don’t normally crack when you indent them. If they do, you can roll them back into balls and repeat, or pinch together the dough. However, I think small cracks look really pretty!
Baking the cookies
If you make 24 cookies from this recipe, they’ll take around 10 minutes to bake. If you make larger cookies (for example, 16 cookies from this recipe), bake them for around 12 minutes.
These chocolate thumbprints don’t need to be chilled. However, if you prefer thicker and fluffier cookies, shape the cookies and chill them on a baking sheet (covered) for just 20 minutes.
When you remove the cookies from the oven, they may have lost some of their shape. While the cookies are still hot, you can place a cookie cutter around a cookie and make a circular motion to nudge it back into shape. If your indents have puffed up, simply press them back down with a spoon/utensil.
Decorating the cookies
These vegan chocolate thumbprint cookies are amazing with a rich chocolate ganache! You can also fill them with:
- your favorite jam
- white chocolate ganache
- caramel
- nut butters, like peanut butter or almond butter
I topped my cookies with festive nonpareils (or hundreds and thousands for Aussies). You can also top them with:
- crushed candy canes
- crushed nuts
You may also like my full collection of vegan Christmas cookies!
More vegan cookie recipes
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Vegan Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Soft, buttery and indulgent vegan chocolate thumbprint cookies with a dark chocolate ganache filling. These cookies have a brownie-like texture, and don’t need to be chilled beforehand. Just perfect for the holiday season!
Servings: 28 small cookies
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Instructions
Make the chocolate cookies:
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Add the vegan butter, sugar, yogurt and vanilla to a large mixing bowl (if using a hand mixer) or the bowl of a stand mixer (with the paddle attachment). Beat until light and fluffy and a dough forms.
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Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt and beat until just combined. The cookie dough should be soft and fluffy.
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Divide the cookie dough into around 28 balls (each will be around a heaped tablespoon or weigh 24g). If desired, roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar or chocolate sprinkles.
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Arrange the balls of dough on your baking sheets, spacing them about 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) apart. Use a half-teaspoon measure or your thumb to indent each cookie (note 3 for alternatives).
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Bake the cookies for around 9-11 minutes or until the cookies have slightly puffed up and the edges look set.
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Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes. If the cookies have lost their definition, you can indent them again or use a larger cookie cutter to nudge them back. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the ganache filling and decorating the cookies:
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While your cookies are baking, heat up the cream in a small saucepan or in the microwave until it just starts to boil. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate to the mixture and stir until combined. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to let the chocolate melt.
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Stir the mixture until you have a very smooth ganache. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes.
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Use a small spoon or a piping bag to add the chocolate filling to the center of each cookie. If desired, decorate with festive Nonpareils (hundreds and thousands for my Aussies). Let the filling ‘set’ at room temperature, or chill the cookies in the fridge for 10-20 minutes.
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Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Cookies made with dairy-free milk are delicious but will dry out quicker than those made with yogurt.
- If you’re using measuring cups, please use a spoon to add the flour to your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. If you use a measuring cup to scoop flour out of its container, it can pack in too much flour and you’ll get dry cookies. For the best results, use an electric scale.
- The decorated cookies can be stored at room temperature for a couple of days and in the fridge for 1 week. Alternatively, you can shape the cookies, store them in a covered container and chill them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Chilling the cookies also makes them slightly thicker and puffier. You can bake the cookies directly from the fridge, but will need to bake them for a few extra minutes as the cookies will be cold. The ganache also keeps well in the fridge, but please reheat it before using.
- You can also use the end of a spatula, a beverage muddler or a small honey dipper to indent the cookies.
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