Chocolate Fudge S’mores Thumbprints.
I do this one stupid thing.
I mean, it’s really stupid.
I keep watching this dumb movie… this Dear John movie… secretly hoping that the ending is going to change every single time. It’s on TV like three times a week (just to spite me) and seriously… someone should have been smart enough to change the awful ending by now. Each and every time the credits start to roll I want to throw the remote straight at the screen and belt “but whyyyyyyy?!?”
Yeah. Maybe you’ve heard me mention this before? Pretty sure I complained about it on Twitter, uh… like 14 months ago? And maybe even again on Facebook about 7 months ago. Are you thinking someone needs to GET A LIFE?!
Me too.
Yet I can’t stop. Every time I spy it on Starz or Skinemax I turn it on and torture myself.
Like yesterday morning. I sipped tea, which I loathe. I slurped cereal, which I love. I sunk deeper and deeper and deeper into my dreamy fort of blankets on the couch. I stared longingly into Channing Tatum’s eyes.
Then BAM! Same ending.
But then I got off my arse and made these s’mores cookies and righted my life again, because no movie’s gonna hold me down. Is that a word? Righted? It is now.
The minute December hits, I immerse myself in Mother Lovett’s recipes and refuse to come up for air. What can I say? I have a thing for the scent of musty moth balls and stained, yellowed paper. It has so much more… character than that deficient Dear John.
Thumbprints were her thing. She was like, alllllll about the thumbprints. Not gonna lie – they have never been my fave. I’m more of an oooey and gooey and chewy chocolate chip cookie kind of gal, and not so much of a tender crumb cookie that someone pokes their (most likely) dirty fingers in mid-bake and fills with fruit, which we all know is NOT dessert. You hear??
But these days? I eat them because they taste like her. In a non-creeptastic way. While baking they smell like her. In a non-old person way. And the mere act of seeing them on a holiday cookie tray reminds me of her. Errr, well… reminds me of how she used to store thumbprints in her freezer inside reused aluminum foil packets, bringing them out two years later and placing them on the tiny ceramic leaf tray that sat on her coffee table. They resembled the lovely consistency of stone.
The fact is, I still can’t believe that it’s been nearly four years since I stood in her kitchen and listened to her rip me a new one because I “didn’t do the thumbprint right!”
Apparently there was only one way to do it.
So I still make them and probably do that part wrong. Every year.
And even though I’ll enjoy a bite or two of that traditional thumbprint recipe, let’s be honest: you just KNOW I’ve been dying to trash these up. I’ve gone back and forth for weeks deciding between peanut butter chocolate thumbprints or white chocolate thumbprints or cheesecake thumbprints or tiramisu thumbprints or anything-but-fruit thumbprints.
But I’m pretty sure I hit the thumbprint jackpot here. And I may never say the word thumbprint again.
And no.. I will never stuff my thumbprints (darnit) with fruity stuff. Because, uh, who in the world emotionally eats fruit every time John and Savannah STILL don’t end up together? Not I.
Chocolate Fudge S’mores Thumbprints
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 batch of marshmallow frosting
- 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, or more if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until fluffy (scraping the bowl when needed), for about 3-4 minutes. Add in egg yolk and vanilla, and beat for another 1-2 minutes until combined. With the mixer on low speed, stir in the flour mixture and gradually increase the speed for the dough to come together, again scraping down the sides to combine. One batter has come together, fold in chocolate chips.
- Roll into balls that are about 1 inch in diameter and set on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from oven and gently press your thumb into the center of each cookie, creating a dent. Place the cookies back in the oven and bake for 5-6 more minutes. Remove and let cool completely.
- One cool, use a spoon or butter knife and add 1-2 teaspoons of frosting into the cookies. Top with a hefty sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs. Store in an air-tight container. My grandma used to freeze her thumbprints, so I’m pretty sure these can be frozen if placed in a single layer and wrapped tightly.
- Notes: I used a bit of extra milk (2-3 tablespoons) to thin out my usual marshmallow frosting. If you are making these ahead of time and plan to freeze, I don’t suggest that as the frosting is a bit runnier. If you are making them a day or two in advance, thinning the frosting should be fine.
Notes
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I appreciate you so much!
Take that Dear John!
202 Comments on “Chocolate Fudge S’mores Thumbprints.”
UMM yeah, what’s with the ending of Dear John? I mean really, couldn’t the producers have just thrown out the ending in the book and made the movie a tad less depressing? Or ATLEAST had an alternate ending option at the end of the film? Just for the sake of my sanity?
Enough about that, ha.
Those thumb print cookies look fantastic! I can’t imagine they’d last long enough to the point where I’d start freezing them.but yum yum! :)
uhm, yum.
great bokeh in that last pic.
by the way, your chocolate chunk oatmeal cookie bread has become our favorite muffin recipe!!
So glad you like it!!
Ugh that movie…it’s so bad. So bad and so good. We understand, the cookies are totally necessary to deal with that ending. They look like they could make anyone feel better.
My boyfriend deployed a month before ‘Dear John’ came out. I probably cried consistently through the entire movie for the first 5 times I watched it. Ok, that’s a lie. The first 6, at least.
Anyway, I feel your pain. Man is that Channing Tatum GORGEOUS. Almost as gorg as these thumbprints. Come to momma!
I have never really seen the point of thumbprint cookies until now…thank you!
Okay, so there’s this new movie coming out – called The Vow. And it’s going to be like Dear John + The Notebook put together (Channing Tatum + Rachel mcAdams together!!!). I think I’m going to bring an entire box of tissues when I go see it.
oh my word… seriously? I will never get over The Notebook. I read it in 7th grade and have watched the movie 8 billion times. OMG.
Seriously? the Notebook is one of my all time favorite movie! I can’t wait for this movie!
Go watch the trailer – i was for real crying during it. http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/thevow/
Um I just also saw that Scott Speedman is in the movie. This needs to come out NOW.
Love this post, and LOVE these cookies! Well done!
Yummy! I swear we were seperated at birth, from everything to thumbprint cookies and watching Dear John 4 days a week. My hubby loves the yucky fruit dirty thumb cookies(haha) and every year I watch as he enjoy mass quantities of them and I sit by wishing I had a delicious treat of my own. Well this is it! Thanks for making me smile each and every day I read one of your postings, it’s like a wittier more talented baker version of me writing to myself each morning :)
Oh, I know! It’s those eyes that get you every time. They are the best! Awww- give me a moment, please….. Delicious and creative cookies- they must be a hit! + Your picture with the lights of the Christmas tree turned out great!
Great idea for thumbprints! I also like to use Nutella in the middle. So gooooooood.
This cookie is genius, Jessica! That last photo is amazing!
Hahaha, my step-grandma makes those fruity thumbprint cookies every year and no one ever eats them–they are disgusting! Love this new twist on them though! I’m thinking a pumpkin-spice version with cream-cheese icing is in order, too!
That’s an awesome idea!
These are so freaking yummy looking! Love them :)
I love Chatham Tatum, so I had to see the movie. . . The ending s*cked!! I was disappointed, but looking at him for 1 1/2 Hrs. Made up for it!!!
These are the most fun thumbprints I’ve seen and I just love that last photo!
The ending to that movie is so wrong, I left the theater angry when I saw the movie.
I spent 8 hours making cookies yesterday, and I thought I was pretty close to being done, and then you post these Smore Thumbprints. Now you know I have to make them! I made some thumbprints yesterday, and the only thing I don’t like is when I put my thumb into the dough I leave a nail mark. lol Have a great day!!
Oh my gosh, the thumbprints with the fruit are the WORST. These look delicious, though! Also, loving the bokeh in the last photo!
Love your wishful thinking on the Dear John movie…hey you never know…maybe the ending will turn out better the next time! The frosting on these cookies looks soooo good. I’m craving this now.
i love thumbprint cookies…they makes room for the good stuff! ha… love your analysis on the movie. i hate when i don’t like the ending of a movie… makes me feel like i just wasted 2 hours of my life!
LOL! The bit about Mother Lovett taking the thumbprints out of the freezer 2 years later and them resembling stone reminds me of my grandpa’s house. He always kept gummy bears in a drawer near the front door, and sometimes my sister would go over to “visit” – aka stuff ourselves with gummy bears. But we weren’t the best at closing the bag, and sometimes we wouldn’t go for a while. The gummy bears went totally stale. We wouldn’t let them go to waste of course – we’d just gnaw away at them at the risk of losing a tooth until they softened up. Oooh grandparents – gotta love em!
Mine did that with gummy bears too!
Ohmygosh these look amazing. I haven’t made thumbprint cookies in a while, because I too don’t think people particularly enjoy globs of jam in their cookies. At least not as much as gooey decadent stuff like marshmallow frosting. :) Can’t wait to make these!!
Looks like a thumbprint – whoopie pie hybrid. Outstanding idea! I cant wait to try these.
Speaking of thumbprints, I made them with fudge frosting and chopped nuts last time. Um yeah. Cookies call for chocolate, not fruit. Amen.
My grandma used to make thumbprints, too, and they were ‘her thing’ or one of about 17 of her things. And like you, they are not really my ‘favorite’ b/c I like more chewy and gooey things but you have taken the usually crisper thumbprint into new territory by making it with the smores…..YUM!!!
No lie, I sobbed for like 2 days when I read the book. DAYS. Reliving it through the movie was no more pleasant. Great cookies though…
I can’t even read the book. I hear the ending in the book is worse.
Okay wait, I think I’m lying. I’m pretty sure that I read the last chapter one day in Barnes and Nobles.
Oh my gosh, that movie pisses me off every time!
:)
In other news, these cookies look incredible. I wish I had one right now for breakfast!!
You totally gave me morning laugh! I LOVE the movie Dear John, I mean HELLO CHANNING TATUM….but I get seriouly ticked off at the ending…everytime!! lol As for your cookies….they look soooo yummy. An updated take on the traditional thumbprint. Thumbprints always remind me of my grandma. I still make all the traditional cookies….and throw in some new too!
Love your blog,
Hugs – Tracy
Thanks Tracy!
I’ve never seen that movie but I’m down with thumbprints regardless. My mom makes lemon flavored ones with fruit that I’m obsessed with around the holidays. I know, I know..fruit. But I love them! I also love how it drives my husband (who is a GERMAPHOBE!) crazy that I use my thumb to make the indent (um, hello they are called thumbprints!) and every year he watches me and says “can’t you use a spoon or something?” haha
Hahahaha!
Thumbprint cookies have always been so fun and enticing to me. Must be my inner child. BTW Ina Garten has a shortbread thumbprint recipe that is rolled in coconut which may make you change your mind about the fruity ones :)
I might need to try that…
Chocolate > fruit every time!
I love anything with chocolate and marshmallow, theses look great!
The perfect treat to soothe the heartbreak on a movie whose ending refuses to change. (I agree, I wish the ending were different too!!)
I can’t even watch that movie.
Send me a box of those cookies, will ya?
I love that we are getting pictures with your tree in the background! It reminds me of last Christmas when I found your blog! :-)
Dear John…man, i cried for HOURS after that one! nate won’t let me watch it now…too many hormones going on to make that a smart thing.
These sound awesome. I love anything that tastes like s’mores. I think I should make these. And maybe I’ll even drizzle them with chocolate. Cuz, ya know, you can never have too much chocolate.
You are one smart cookie. I should’ve done that.
Your thumbs are gorgeous.
And I’m a big Nicholas Sparks fan and haven’t seen Dear John yet (although I’m almost positive I’ve read it) – nexflix cue asap, even if I suspect the ending :)
You crack me up. And I think and hope you always will :) Don’t change. And don’t change these cookies either. They’re awesome!
Ummm… yesss… I’ll take a dozen of these to have with my coffee please!! Oh and I love the shot with all that bokeh! beautious!!
Those cookies look amazing! Can’t wait to try them out :) And, yes, I completely agree with you… The ending of Dear John makes me hate Nicholas Sparks with a burning fury.
smores are my favorite and these look stunning!
Well, these look fun! I have a weakness for smores.
Um, let me advise you to not even attempt to read the Dear John book (not sure what motivated me to make that bad decision), because you will end up bawling like I may or may not have been at the time.
Definitely going to try these! But I might try rolling them in egg whites and then the graham cracker crumbs before baking! Delicious!
LOVE that last shot! So fun and festive!
Those look truly amazing and perfect for Christmas!
LOVE these!
I bawled my eyes out when I read that book. It was way too sad for me to handle. I need to watch the movie…even though I know how it ends. Terribly.
I also need to have these cookies in my face immediately.
FYI: the movie ends differently from the book!! It’s not quite as bad because it’s somewhat ambiguous.
Last year I used tons of your cookie recipes – I can’t wait to try these!!
Oh my I love these cookies! I am adding them to my must bake now list! You should definately link up this recipe to the December #cookielove bloghop. You can get there from my blog: http://wp.me/p1h7pO-bu
So. That movie. I do the same thing. Only I cry…a horrible ugly cry. That movie just gets me, no idea why but I think somehow it’s Channing Tatums fault. What. A. Hottie. And that coin collecting? Adorable.
Love these cookies, chocolate and marshmallow is always a winner!!
Jessica,
These cookies look awesome! I think they will be making my holiday cookie plate.
I have to tell you it was my birthday yesterday and I got to pick anything for my mom to make me. So my 26th “birthday cake” was…….Better than crack brownies. They were amazing!! I also made your whole wheat banana and blueberry muffins. They were great.
Thank you for you baking inspiration! Keep it coming.
Aw, happy birthday! Thanks so much for reading!
Thank you, it was a great birthday! I LOVE your blog! It was one of the first blogs that I saw that you were “normal” about food. You like to work out but are not on some strict crazy diet. It has helped me SO much!! You are appreciated.