Hello everyone, and welcome to another thrilling installment of the ‘Easter Things Charlotte Baked’ show. Today’s special guests are these completely moreish little chocolate thumbprint cookies, which hold more than a passing resemblance to one of this season’s most-loved egg-shaped treats.
You’ve seen my Creme Egg Ice Cream, you’ve tasted my Mini Egg Milkshakes, and now I give you the star of the show – my Cadbury Creme Egg Thumbprint Cookies!
Whether you’re actually a fan of Cadbury Creme Eggs or not – I find them a bit sickly to be honest (ooh controversial) – you are going to fall in love with these cute little cookie eggs. The cocoa flavour in the cookie dough cuts right through all that sugary sweet fondant, leaving you wanting to eat five more…
And that’s exactly what I did.
The thumbprint cookies themselves are made from the type of dough that comes together in one bowl, and doesn’t even need chilling before baking. Basically, my absolute favourite kind. Just mix all the ingredients together in your stand mixer, roll into balls, and make little dips in each of the cookies with your thumb.
Well, actually, I don’t use my thumb. And before you start shouting “click bait” at me, hear me out. The back of a measuring spoon (one tablespoon is ideal) makes a way better thumbprint dip in your cookies than an actual thumb ever will. Plus, once these babies come out of the oven and their dips have popped back out a bit, you’re definitely going to want to reform the hot hot cookies with a measuring spoon rather than your own hand.
I fancy some fondant
But we all know how to make cookies by now, don’t we. What you’re really here for is the Creme Egg fondant filling.
It’s definitely even easier to make than your imagining, with only three main ingredients: unsalted butter, light corn syrup, and icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar). If you can’t get hold of corn syrup where you live then you can substitute it for golden syrup, although your egg whites won’t be quite as white – a touch of icing whitener ought to fix this though.
And when it comes to colouring the fondant for the egg yolks, I used Wilton’s Golden Yellow, which is a great almost-orange colour that is a dead-ringer for a real egg yolk. Actual cream egg yolks are a little more orange, so if you’re looking to replicate one exactly then pick something much darker, like this Wilton orange.
Usually I like to eat the thing I’m writing about whilst writing the actual post, to give me some inspiration. Unfortunately these Creme Egg Thumbprint Cookies were so far up my street that they were all gone within a day. Sadface.
I guess that tells you all you need to know.
I’ll be back next week with a few more seasonal recipes, as we head well and truly into Easter. Until then, spend the weekend the same way I will – by getting yourself into the kitchen and baking a double-batch of cookies!
- 250g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
- 150g (¾ cup) caster sugar (US granulated sugar)
- 2 large eggs
- 80g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
- 250g (2 cups) all-purpose or plain flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 150g (½ cup) light corn syrup
- 60g (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 350g (2¾ cups) icing sugar (US powdered sugar)
- Yellow or orange food colouring
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 355°F (160°C fan) and line two large cookie sheets with baking parchment or silicone baking mats.
- Place the butter and sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl if using an electric hand mixer) and beat together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
- Add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder to the bowl and fold together on a low speed until just about mixed - scrape down the sides if needed. Roll the dough into balls (slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball) and place them on the lined cookie sheets. Press your thumb (or the back of a one tablespoon measuring spoon) into the middle of the each of the balls to create a bowl shape. If the edges crack slightly, just push them back together.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until the edges are firm. The middle of the cookies will still be soft, but that's fine. If the dips in the middle of the cookies have disappeared, simply use a one tablespoon measuring spoon (or something similar) to press them back in. Don't use your finger for this, as you need to do it whilst the cookies are still hot! Leave the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Once the cookies are cold, it is time to make the filling. Pour the golden syrup into a medium bowl, and add the butter, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat together (by hand is fine) until smooth. Add the icing sugar in two additions, beating well between each to make sure there are no lumps. If the mixture is too thick to pipe, then add a couple more tablespoons of corn syrup, as needed.
- Once the mixture is smooth, spoon approximately one third of it into a smaller bowl, and add the food colouring. Mix well until the colour is a deep orange or yellow, and the mixture is evenly coloured.
- Spoon the different coloured mixtures into separate piping bags (either fitted with a smaller circular tip, or just with the end cut off) and pipe into the middle of the chocolate cookies. I find it easier to pipe a ring of white fondant first, and then fill in the middle with the yellow fondant afterwards. Leave the cookies to set for an hour or so, and the fondant will resemble the consistency of a Creme Egg!
- These cookies will stay fresh for 2-3 days, if stored in an airtight container somewhere cool (not the fridge). If you leave them somewhere warm then the fondant may melt.
- The un-filled chocolate cookies can be frozen for 2-3 months. Defrost at room temperature and then fill with the Creme Egg fondant.
