My family loves Holiday Baking. Part of the fun is sneaking bites while you are baking and the other is giving them to friends and family to enjoy. We always give goody plates during the holidays, and I tried a new recipe this year that I have fallen in love with and will use from now on. We made Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel. The Thumbprint cookie can be filled with so many different things like jams, preserves, canned filling, chocolate, and more. Get creative! We used Kraft Caramel Bits and Bakers Coconut to get the best flavors. If you need more inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. It has recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons, and more! What’s not to love? If you’re looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out!
They are pretty easy to make, using only a few ingredients that I was able to get at Walmart like Bakers Coconut, Kraft Caramels, Whipping cream, and unsalted butter. These yummy homemade Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel are a great way to save money during the Holidays and make great gifts.
To start you are going to take 1 cup of sugar and 3 sticks of unsalted butter (softened) and mix them together in a bowl until creamy. Next, you will add 1 1/2 tsp of Pure Vanilla Extract and blend this in. I used a hand mixer and just kept it on the low setting the whole time. After adding the vanilla, add 1/2 tsp. of table salt and 1 cup of flour and blend it. When that is mixed, add another cup of flour and mix it. You will add 1 1/2 more cups of flour and mix until well blended. It should have a great cookie consistency now.
Once the dough is mixed, you are going to take a small amount and roll it into a ball. You can use your hands – or a piece of plastic wrap (or a baggie) to keep your hands from getting greasy. I rolled out all of the dough and put the balls on the tray then went on to the next step.
You are going to take 2 large eggs and crack them into a bowl and whip them (like making scrambled eggs). Once the eggs are mixed, you will want to get another bowl and fill it with Bakers’ Coconut. (I used almost the whole bag for this recipe – just FYI). Once you have your eggs mixed and your coconut ready, then you will want to start coating them. Take a dough ball, and dip it in the egg, making sure all sides are coated. Then you will want to roll the ball in the coconut to coat it.
Once you have it coated with the egg and the coconut, put it back on the baking sheet and use your thumb to press and indent into the cookie – making it look like a bird’s nest. Repeat this process with all of the dough balls that you made. It took me about 12 minutes to coat 15 cookie balls. Once you have a sheet of dough balls coated, you will want to put them into the oven at 350 degrees and cook them for 9-10 minutes. After this time, pull them out of the oven and carefully re-press the indentation. You will then put them back into the oven for another 9-10 minutes or until golden (lightly browned). Pull cookies out and move them to a wire rack to cool.
While the cookies are cooling and another pan is cooking you will want to melt the caramel. I used a double boiler method (by filling a pan about 1/3 full of water, and then putting a glass bowl over the top to be heated by the boiling water) but you can also melt them in the microwave. It took about 10 minutes for the Kraft Caramel Bits to melt. I also added 5-6 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. You will want to stir almost the entire time to keep it from sticking to the bottom and clopping together.
Once the caramel is melted and the cookies are done and cooled, you will want to spoon caramel into the cookies. I used a regular-sized spoon and just put one spoonful into most of the cookies. After you have the caramel in the cookies you will want to take a sea salt grinder and sprinkle the tops with salt. It didn’t take long for the caramel to set up and these turned out SO GOOD! A great gift to give for the Holidays – and fun for the whole family.
Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel Recipe
Delicious Cookie covered in coconut and filled with salted caramel. Great family treat to make for the holidays and share with friends.
Here is your Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel recipe:
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 3 dozen
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Table salt
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 bag of Bakers Coconut
- 1 bag of Kraft Caramels
- 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Sea Salt (preferably in a grinder)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- To start you are going to take 1 cup of sugar and 3 sticks of unsalted butter (softened) and mix them together in a bowl until creamy.
- Next, you will add 1 1/2 tsp of Pure Vanilla Extract and blend this in. I used a hand mixer and just kept it on the low setting the whole time. After adding the vanilla, add 1/2 tsp. of table salt and 1 cup of flour and blend it. When that is mixed, add another cup of flour and mix it. You will add 1 1/2 more cups of flour and mix until well blended. (3 1/2 cups of flour total). It should have a great cookie consistency now.
- Once the dough is mixed, you are going to take a small amount and roll it into a ball. You can use your hands – or a piece of plastic wrap (or a baggie) to keep your hands from getting greasy. I rolled out all of the dough and put the balls on the tray then went on to the next step.
- You are going to take 2 large eggs and crack them into a bowl and whip them (like making scrambled eggs). Once the eggs are mixed, you will want to get another bowl and fill it with Bakers’ Coconut. (I used almost the whole bag for this recipe – just FYI).
- Once you have your eggs mixed and your coconut ready, then you will want to start coating them. Take a dough ball, and dip it in the egg, making sure all sides are coated. Then you will want to roll the ball in the coconut to coat it.
- Once you have it coated with the egg and the coconut, put it back on the baking sheet and use your thumb to press and indent into the cookie – making it look like a bird’s nest. Repeat this process with all of the dough balls that you made. It took me about 12 minutes to coat 15 cookie balls.
- Once you have a sheet of dough balls coated, you will want to put them into the oven at 350 degrees and cook them for 9-10 minutes. After this time, pull them out of the oven and carefully re-press the indentation. You will then put them back into the oven for another 9-10 minutes or until golden (lightly browned). Pull cookies out and move them to a wire rack to cool.
- While the cookies are cooling and another pan is cooking you will want to melt the caramel. I used a double boiler method (by filling a pan about 1/3 full of water, and then putting a glass bowl over the top to be heated by the boiling water) but you can also melt them in the microwave. It took about 10 minutes for the Kraft Caramel Bits to melt. I also added 5-6 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. You will want to stir almost the entire time to keep it from sticking to the bottom and clopping together.
- Once the caramel is melted and the cookies are done and cooled, you will want to spoon caramel into the cookies. I used a regular-sized spoon and just put one spoonful into most of the cookies. After you have the caramel in the cookies you will want to take a sea salt grinder and sprinkle the tops with salt. It didn’t take long for the caramel to set up and these turned out SO GOOD! A great gift to give for the Holidays – and fun for the whole family.
- You can reheat the caramel if needed. Keep the cookies in an airtight container (or eat them and share them 😉 ).
Have you tried this Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel Recipe? What did you think?
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