The flavour combination of dark chocolate, dulce de leche and sea salt is not new. You might even say it’s a bit passé, but it could also be one of those things that become a classic, like chocolate and mint.
I had wanted thimble (aka. thumbprint) cookies, but I was also craving chocolate. And when my pal David at Circles and Squares Bakery tweeted about making dulce de leche brownies, the idea hit me.
This first batch is really a prototype – I made one pan and put the caramel into the thumbprints first, before baking, as you do when making the regular version with jam. This created a big oozing mess of melted caramel. Filling the prints as soon as the cookies come out of the oven works better – it melts just enough to smooth out, without creating too much of a river.
I also used 100% cacao chocolate, because that’s what I had on hand. It’s not readily available, but I don’t think I’d go below about 80% or the cookie will be way too sweet – otherwise the amount of sugar would have to be adjusted. And, I cheated and used dulce de leche from a jar, but the caramel is not hard to make.
Chocolate Dulce de Leche Thumbprint Cookies
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup dark chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
dulce de leche
fleur de sels or coarse sea salt
Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, melted chocolate and vanilla and blend well. Add flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until combined. Roll dough in 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Dent each ball with thumb. Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately fill indentations with dulce de leche – do not overfill as it will soften and run over the sides. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with the fleur de sels. Makes 35 – 40 cookies.