Chocolate- Mint Thumbprints

My baking projects are in full swing, my Christmas shopping is complete, and my home is decorated to the hilt. Next up is wrapping gifts... something I don't really enjoy. So I'll continue to put that off and bake more cookies instead! Cookie #8 of this holiday baking season: Chocolate- Mint Thumbprints.

Here's one where you can get the kids involved (take advantage of their miniature thumbs)!

They're the typical thumbprint cookie... chill the dough, roll into balls and give each cookie a push of the thumb.

After you bake them, they puff up quite a bit, so you simply use the end of a spatula to re-create the thumbprint impression.

The chocolate filling calls for melted semi-sweet chocolate, butter and peppermint extract. I had these stashed in my freezer so I used them instead. They worked out perfectly.

Once the chocolate is melted, it will be smooth and thin. You'll need to let it sit at room temperature for a while, giving it a chance to thicken up enough to pipe through a pastry sleeve. If you prefer, you can spoon the filling into the centers instead.

Give them a splash of holiday sprinkles if you'd like.

These make a nice holiday cookie. And they seemed to satisfy the fanatical chocolate-lovers in my house, as well as my chocolate-mint-obsessed husband. The chocolate middles harden at room temperature, and then you can freeze them if you'd like in a covered container between layers of waxed paper.

Time to wrap some gifts... or perhaps bake some more cookies. I say cookies! But my son says, "Mom, please wrap the gifts!!" (He's dying to shake the boxes and begin guessing what might be inside.) Ok, kid. I'll wrap a few gifts... just for you (in between batches of cookies!)

This recipe can be found HERE.