Soft Sugar Thumb Cookies with a Chocolate Filling

Makes approx 20 cookies

Easily made dairy-free, these cookies are soft, sweet and chocolatey! Perfect! 

You want a chilled, firm dough so start making these a few hours before you need them so the dough can chill in the fridge until ready to bake. Even better, make the dough the day before for a quick bake!

We made a batch of these and they made the perfect lunch box treat or afterschool snack. 

Ingredients:

170g unsalted butter (dairy-free if required)

150g sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

280g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp salt

20 chocolate buttons (dairy-free if required)

Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Next add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again until combined.

Step 2: Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat again until you have  a smooth dough. This should not take long but you may need to scrape down the sides of the bow to incorporate everything.

Step 3: Take a large sheet of grease-proof paper and tip the dough out into the centre. Roll the dough into a thick sausage shape, about 20cm long and twist the ends tight. Store in the fridge to chill until firm.

Step 4: When ready to bake, prepare a large baking sheet with grease-proof paper and preheat the oven to 180c fan.

Step 5: Cut the chilled log into 20 pieces, and roll each into a ball, slightly smaller than a ping pong ball. Next place each onto the prepared baking sheets about 5cm apart. Use your thumb to press down into the centre of each ball. This will create a hollow (make sure it’s central).  Bake for eight minutes.

Step 6: After eight minutes remove quickly from the oven and pop one chocolate button in each thumb dent. Return to the oven for a final four minutes.

Step 7: Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Store in an airtight container and they’ll last a few days. Alternatively, freeze if you like and remove however many you need the night before or a couple of hours before you need them.