Dulce de Leche and Nutella Thumbprints with Sea Salt

By MarielC

Ingredients

• 4 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 lb.)
• 1 1/3 cups of sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 – 13 oz. can Nestle La Lechera, Dulce de Leche (caramel)
• 1 small jar Nutella
• Course sea salt for sprinkling

Details

Servings 48
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from aspicyperspective.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Scrape the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour a little at a time, until it is just combined.

Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1 oz. balls—about 1 ½ tablespoons. Place them on the cookie sheets and make a deep indention in each cookie, with your thumb. Press any cracks back into place.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes. It will look like the craters have disappeared, but when the cookies cool, they’ll be back!

Scoop the Dulce de Leche into a quart-size freezer bag. Microwave it for 30-60 seconds until thin, like melted peanut butter. The bag may be hot, so wrap it in a small towel. Snip a hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze about 1 ½ tsp. of caramel into the centers of 24 cookies. Tap the cookies gently to help the caramel fill in the entire indention.

While the caramel is still a little tacky, sprinkle each cookie with course sea salt. Repeat this process with melted Nutella and the remaining 24 cookies.

Allow the Dulce de Leche and Nutella to cool for a little while before serving, so the centers can set.
*You could put them in the refrigerator to speed this up!

Preparation time: 30 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 48 cookies