Minty Chocolate Thumbprints

I had the privilege of spending the weekend in a workshop with a truly amazing and beautiful group of people. You may recall a post I did a few months back about audio description for the blind and visually impaired? This weekend, four of us we were invited to an advanced workshop to learn from our amazing and wise mentor, Deborah Lewis. I do have some photos to share with you of the weekend, but first I want to share the recipe of the cookies I baked for my friends and colleagues to enjoy as we rolled up our sleeves and dived a little deeper into the world of audio description.

I adapted this recipe from one by Martha Stewart. Here's the secret ingredient. These are from Trader Joe's. They are delectable little discs of minty dark chocolate called Mint UFO'S.

Minty Chocolate Thumbprints

(adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar (plus about 6 tsp for rolling)

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

a handful of Trader Joe's Mint UFO's

Sift together four, cocoa and salt into a bowl. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in the yolk, vanilla and chocolate. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put about 6 teaspoons of granulated sugar into a small bowl. Form the dough into balls that are about an inch in diameter. Roll in sugar and place about 1 inch apart on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Press the centre of each ball with your thumb and gently push a Mint UFO into the indentation.

Bake until the cookies begin to crack about 10-12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

These are quite lovely if you're fond of that delectable combo of mint and chocolate.