Almond Joy Thumbprints

By srumbel

Ingredients

• Cookie
• 4 4 4 ounces full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1 1 large egg
• 1 1 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1 ounces) 1 (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate fudge pudding mix, dry
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup white flour
• 1 1 ounces) 1 (18.4 ounces) fudge brownie mix*
• Coconut Frosting
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4-1/2 1/4-1/2 1/4-1/2 teaspoon coconut extract*
• Pinch Pinch of salt
• 1 1 1/2 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1-2 1-2 1-2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 1/2 1 of 1 (7 ounce bag) package sweetened flaked coconut
• Finish Them Off
• Diamonds of California Whole Almonds
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil, or vegetable oil

Details

Servings 58
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 38mins
Adapted from chelseasmessyapron.com

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions
Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl fitted to a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until completely smooth. They must both be at room temperature -- do not melt or soften in the microwave of your cookies will flatten more/ be less thick. Just leave out for about 45 minutes to an hour and they'll be perfect!

Beat in the large egg and vanilla.

Beat in the pudding mix (do not prepare), and flour.

Beat in the fudge brownie mix. It will be EXTREMELY thick. This is intended; it might seem like it's not coming together, but keep mixing, it will.

Pack the dough into a full 1 tablespoon measuring spoon and then roll into a ball and transfer that ball of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat liner. The cookies should be pretty small like a typical thumbprint cookie (I've tested this recipe a few times & they always make right around 54-58 thumbprint sized cookies).

Bake for 7-10 minutes. Slightly under-baking these cookies gives them an awesome taste and texture like ultra fudge-y brownies so err on the side of slightly under-baking.

When the cookies come out of the oven, press the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon into the center of the cookies.

Allow to completely cool before frosting.

Frosting
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and shortening until smooth. Beat in the extracts, a pinch of salt, and powdered sugar.

Add in the milk to get to desired consistency -- you want it to be on the thick side. Fold in the coconut until well combined.

Finish them off
Frost the cookies generously and evenly to use all the frosting equally between the cookies.

Press an almond into the frosting in the center of each of the cookies.

In a small microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and the oil. Microwave in bursts of 15 seconds, stirring in between each burst for 10 seconds until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Transfer the melted chocolate into a plastic bag and cut off the very tip.

Pipe that melted chocolate generously over top of the cookies. Allow to set.


Notes
*Add coconut extract to taste preference. A little bit goes a long way! You can find coconut extract in the baking aisle with other extracts.

The cookies in the pictures do seem larger than they actually are (unintentionally!! I used a macro lens that really gets up close and in the details. Follow the instructions for size and not necessarily the pictures. ?