Vegan Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
These vegan chocolate thumbprint cookies have a dark chocolate ganache filling and a soft, buttery and indulgent brownie-like texture! The cookie dough doesn’t need to be chilled, and they’re the perfect sweet treat for the holiday season or any time of year!
Simple ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Vegan butter. A block or stick butter is best for these vegan thumbprints as we want the cookies to retain their shape during baking. You can still use a spreadable vegan butter, but your cookies will spread out more and taste less rich.
Dairy-free yogurt adds moisture and richness to these cookies. Non-dairy milk will work, but the cookies will dry out quicker over a few days.
Sugar doesn’t only sweeten the cookies, but keeps them soft and fudgy. You can also use brown sugar or coconut sugar with slightly different results.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder for the best dark chocolate flavor. Natural cocoa powder will also work, and your cookies will have a slightly different flavor profile (though still delicious).
Baking powder. A small amount of baking powder gives the cookies a little lift. If you want fudgier cookies, feel free to omit the baking powder (I’ve tested this and still loved them).
Semi-sweet chocolate and vegan heavy cream for the ganache filling. Alternatively, you may use canned coconut cream. Since coconut cream is thicker than heavy cream, please add 2-3 tablespoons more coconut cream so the ganache isn’t too thick.
Making the cookie dough
In a large bowl, beat the wet ingredients (butter, sugar, yogurt and vanilla) until light and fluffy. An electric hand mixer or stand mixer are best for this. Alternatively, you can use a food processor, or a wooden spoon and a lot of arm power!
Next, add your dry ingredients including the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix until just combined. Please measure the flour and cocoa powder properly using the spoon and level method or an electric kitchen scale. If you pack too much flour or cocoa powder in your measuring cups, your cookies may turn out dry.
Your final cookie dough should be soft, fluffy and slightly tacky. This is just what we need for cookies with a melt in your mouth texture!
Assembling the chocolate thumbprint cookies
In the palm of your hand, roll the cookie dough into around 24 balls – each should be a heaped tablespoon or around 24 grams.
For something extra, I rolled my cookie balls in chocolate sprinkles and granulated sugar. You can also roll them in festive sprinkles, chopped nuts or finely shredded coconut!
To indent each cookie, I recommend using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon or the back of a wooden spoon. You can also use a beverage muddler or a ‘honey dipper’ (the only thing I use a honey dipper for haha). Of course, you can just use your thumb, though you might get cookie dough under your nails.
The cookie dough is quite soft so the balls don’t normally crack when you indent them. If they do, you can roll them back into balls and repeat, or pinch together the dough. However, I think small cracks look really pretty!
Baking the cookies
If you rolled your dough into 24 cookie dough balls, they’ll take around 10 minutes to bake. If you want larger cookies (for example, 16 cookies from this recipe), bake them for around 12 minutes.
These chocolate thumbprints don’t need to be chilled. However, if you prefer thicker cookies, shape and chill them on a baking sheet (covered) for just 20 minutes.
When you remove the vegan thumbprint cookies from the oven, some of them may have lost their definition. While the cookies are still hot, you can place a larger cookie cutter around each cookie and make a circular motion to nudge it back into shape. If the center of the cookies have puffed up, press them back down with a spoon/utensil.
Decorating the cookies
These vegan chocolate thumbprint cookies are amazing with a rich chocolate ganache! You can also fill them with:
- your favorite jam, such as raspberry jam, strawberry jam or cherry jam!
- white chocolate ganache
- caramel sauce
- nut butters, like peanut butter or almond butter
- chunks of chocolate, or homemade vegan chocolate kisses (thumbprint cookies are often filled with Hershey’s kisses which are not vegan, but you can make your own)
I topped my cookies with festive nonpareils (or hundreds and thousands for Aussies). You can also top them with:
- crushed candy canes
- crushed nuts, such as pecans or walnuts
You may also like my full collection of vegan Christmas cookies!
More vegan cookie recipes
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Vegan Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¾ cup (170g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, or replace half with brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45g) dairy-free yoghurt, or dairy-free milk (note 1)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (220g) all-purpose plain flour, spoon and leveled (note 2 for tips)
- ½ cup (40g) dutch-process cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt, if using unsalted butter
To decorate (optional)
- granulated sugar
- chocolate sprinkles
Ganache filling
- ⅔ cup (115g or 4-ounce) roughly chopped vegan chocolate or chocolate chips
- ½ cup (115g) dairy-free cream, (note 3 if using coconut cream)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (note 4 for make-ahead instructions).
Make the chocolate cookies:
- Add the vegan butter, sugar, yogurt and vanilla to a large mixing bowl (if using a hand mixer) or the bowl of a stand mixer (with the paddle attachment). Beat until light and fluffy and a dough forms.
- Add the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and beat until just combined. The cookie dough should be soft and fluffy.
- Divide the cookie dough into around 28 balls (each will be around a heaped tablespoon or weigh 24g). If desired, add granulated sugar or chocolate sprinkles to a small bowl, and roll the cookie dough balls in the mixture.
- Place dough balls on your baking sheets, spacing them about 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) apart. Use a half-teaspoon measure or your thumb to indent each cookie (note 5 for alternatives).
- Bake the cookies for around 9-11 minutes or until the cookies have slightly puffed up and the edges look set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes. If the cookies have lost their definition, you can indent them again or use a larger cookie cutter to nudge them back. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the ganache filling and decorating the cookies:
- While your cookies are baking, heat up the cream in a small saucepan or in the microwave until it just starts to boil. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate to the mixture and stir until combined. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to let the chocolate melt.
- Stir the mixture until you have a very smooth ganache. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Use a small spoon or a piping bag to add the chocolate filling to the center of each cookie. If desired, decorate with festive nonpareils (hundreds and thousands for Australians). Let the filling 'set' at room temperature, or chill the cookies in the fridge for 10-20 minutes.
- Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Cookies made with dairy-free milk are delicious but will dry out quicker than those made with yogurt.
- If you’re using measuring cups, please use a spoon to add the flour to your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. If you use a measuring cup to scoop flour out of its container, it can pack in too much flour and you’ll get dry cookies. For the best results, use an electric scale.
- You can use canned coconut cream as the dairy-free cream. Coconut cream is a bit thicker than other dairy-free creams, so I suggest adding an extra 2-3 tablespoons of coconut cream so your ganache doesn’t set too firmly.
- The decorated cookies can be stored at room temperature for a couple of days and in the fridge for 1 week. Alternatively, you can shape the cookies, store them in a covered container and chill them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Chilling the cookies also makes them slightly thicker and puffier. You can bake the cookies directly from the fridge, but will need to bake them for a few extra minutes as the cookies will be cold. The ganache also keeps well in the fridge, but please reheat it before using.
- You can also use the end of a spatula, a beverage muddler or a small honey dipper to indent the cookies.
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Made these a few times for my brownie obsessed partner, and they are great! i haven’t done it with the filling, but sometimes just put some chopped up chocolate before baking. They are really delicious
i’ve just read the entire page just now (not just the recipe notes), and realised Anthea said you can omit the baking powder for fudgier result. Will write it down and try it out next time for sure! I use spreadable vegan butter so i hope it doesn’t alter it even more
I’m thrilled that you both enjoyed these cookies! Adding chopped chocolate would be deliiiicious (and easier) too! I hope you enjoy the version without the baking powder. If you used spreadable vegan butter for your previous batches, it’ll still work out wonderfully without the baking powder. Thanks so much for your feedback!
Merry Christmas! I’m excited to try these! I’m making them now and I have the recipe printed out. I just want to let you know that in the printed instructions there is no mention of when to add the cocoa powder. I see it in the blog instructions, but I rarely read all those details when making recipes.
Merry Christimas Bri! Sorry about that – I have just updated the recipe card mentioning the cocoa powder. I try to add process images to the blog post so you don’t have to read anything extra to know what your cookies should look like. Hope that helps.
Hi! Quick question– the recipe says that you can use canned coconut cream “with a minor adjustment (see the notes of the recipe card for details)” but I don’t see a note on the recipe card regarding the cream? Apologies if I’m somehow just missing it!
Hi Julia! Oh I’m so sorry, I forgot to add the note! I’ve just updated the recipe card with the note about the coconut cream. I hope that helps!