Honey, let me tell you about one of my favorite recipes — Turtle Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies is something I’ve been making for years and it never disappoints! This is the kind of dish that fills the whole kitchen with the most wonderful aroma and has everyone asking when dinner will be ready.
Made with simple, wholesome ingredients like all-purpose flour, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, this recipe comes together without any fuss. That’s the way Gran likes it — good food that doesn’t keep you in the kitchen all day.
Whether you’re making this for a weeknight dinner or bringing it to a gathering, I promise it will disappear fast. Don’t forget to scroll down and let me know how it turned out in the comments!
Please scroll down and leave a star rating in the recipe card below — it helps other home cooks find Gran’s recipes, and it means the world to me!
Turtle Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 2.5 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
- 0.25 cup Cocoa Powder
- 0.75 cup Butter
- 0.5 cup Sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 0.25 teaspoon Salt
- 4 ounce Parmesan Cheese
- 4 tablespoon Sugar
- 0.5 cup Caramels
- 0.75 cup Pecans
Instructions
- Sift the flour and cocoa together into a medium bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and salt and continue beating until blended and smooth, about 1 minute more.
- Add the flour-cocoa mixture and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms, about 1 minute.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm enough to roll into balls, 40 to 60 minutes.
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350F.
- Using your palms, roll heaping teaspoonfuls of the dough into 1-inch balls.
- Arrange them 2 inches apart on the lined sheets.
- With a lightly floured thumb or index fingertip, press straight down into the middle of each ball almost to the cookie sheet to make a deep well.
- (Or use the end of a thick-handled wooden spoon.).
- Bake one sheet at a time until the tops of the cookies look dry, 8 to 9 minutes.
- Gently redefine the indentations with the end of a wooden spoon.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes and then let them cool completely on racks.
- While cooling, mix the cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar together until fluffy with a whipped look.
- When cookies are completely cooled use a spoon to fill the indentation and spread out.
- Do not overfill.
- Bake for 5 more mintues in the oven to set it.
- Melt the caramel as directed on the package and use a spoon to put a dollop of caramel on top of the cookie.
- Quickly top with chopped nuts and let cool.
- Keep cool.
