German Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

German chocolate thumbprint cookies are chocolate thumbprint cookies filled with homemade German chocolate coconut-pecan filling. They're an easy, no-chill cookie perfect for gifting and holiday trays!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Cooling 15

Total Time 50

Servings cookies

Calories 154kcal

Author Kate @ I Heart Eating

Equipment

Ingredients

Chocolate cookie dough

½ cup salted butter at cool room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar packed
1 large egg
2 ounces German's sweet baking chocolate melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour please see the note below about measuring flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Filling

1 egg yolk
⅓ cup evaporated milk
½ cup light brown sugar packed
1 ½ tablespoons salted butter
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut
½ cup finely chopped pecans

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
Beat butter together with granulated sugar and brown sugar together in a large bowl until well-combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
½ cup salted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup light brown sugar
Mix in egg until incorporated.
1 large egg
Mix in melted chocolate and vanilla extract.
2 ounces German's sweet baking chocolate, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix in just until combined.
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
Scoop dough by level tablespoon and roll into a ball.
Press your thumb into the center of each ball.
Bake for about 8-11 minutes or until the edges are set. If cookie centers puff up during baking, press again with the back of a small measuring spoon.
Once your cookies are all baked, start working on your filling. To make the filling, To make the topping, add the egg yolks, evaporated milk, and brown sugar to a medium saucepan. Whisk until combined.
1 egg yolk, ⅓ cup evaporated milk, ½ cup light brown sugar
Add butter.
1 ½ tablespoons salted butter
Heat saucepan over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, whisking regularly, until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat.
Whisk in vanilla extract.
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Add coconut and pecans, and stir in.
¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut, ½ cup finely chopped pecans
Let topping cool for 15 minutes.
Fill the centers with 1 teaspoon of the coconut mixture.
Let the cookies cool to room temperature before serving.

Notes

Butter: If you're using unsalted butter, you'll need to add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the dough and a pinch to the filling.
German's sweet chocolate: This is a mild chocolate that's used to make German chocolate cake.
Evaporated milk: It's important to use evaporated milk and not milk or sweetened condensed milk.
Coconut: If you'd like less sweetness, use unsweetened coconut.
Larger cookies: You can make the cookies larger (1.5 tablespoon scoop) and with more filling. However, if you make the cookies larger, you'll need to scale the filling up to at least 2x the recipe.
Nutrition values are estimates.

Nutrition