Chocolate Sprinkle Thumbprint Cookies
Raise your hand if ever in your life you have struggled with a recipe. My hand is waaaaaay up there (well, as high up as it can get when you’re only 5’1). Sometimes it’s cupcake batter that runneth over and spills all over the inside of the oven. Sometimes it’s a cake that ends up looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Sometimes it’s an experiment gone terribly (and inedible-y) awry. Sometimes it’s trying to recreate a favorite treat from a restaurant or bakery and you just.can’t.get.it.right. These have all happened to me (some, many times over!), but today, I’m focusing on that last one – recreating a favorite treat. Here in Pittsburgh, Giant Eagle is our large supermarket chain, and their bakery sells the most addicting cookies ever – Chocolate Thumbprints with Sprinkles.
These are, without question, my Chief Culinary Consultant’s favorite store-bought cookie and he has done a fabulous job of getting me completely addicted to them. Approximately one out of every two times we wander into the grocery store, we wander out with a dozen of those cookies. Then, we promptly polish them off in less time than I care to admit. For the longest time, I have been trying to recreate those little devils, and I’ve finally got something close!
The cookies from Giant Eagle are not crispy, but they’re not soft or chewy either; rather, they’re very tender. They crumble a little bit when you bite into them, but then they have some give. The cookie is only the first part of the equation; once we get past that part, it’s figuring out the frosting. To be quite honest, it tastes pretty much like chocolate frosting from a can, which normally I’m all “bleh” about, but oh my, on these cookies… I want to swim in it. Turns out, it’s pretty darn difficult to try to make frosting from scratch that tastes like frosting from a can. Shocking, right? I think that’s probably a good thing, but doesn’t make it any easier!
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I have gone through no less than four or five iterations of these cookies, two batches of which needed to be thrown out when experiments went awry! I’ve played with different ingredients, ratios, and mixing methods and have taken copious amounts of notes on pretty much every thumbprint recipe known to man.
These babies are my pseudo-final (but-still-a-work-in-progress) version of the ever-famous Giant Eagle Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies. They are close, but I’m dying to get it as close to exact as possible. The recipe, of course, is a “Giant Eagle bakery secret” so I’m on my own! If I make any changes to the recipe below in the future, I’ll add a date and an edit note so you know what’s been changed.
What recipes have left you stumped? Or scrubbing your kitchen from top to bottom? ;-)
One year ago: Fresh Strawberry Pie
Chocolate Sprinkle Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 2½ cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Chocolate sprinkles
For the Chocolate Icing:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup (28.67 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 4 tablespoons whole milk
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt; set aside. Pour the chocolate sprinkles into a small bowl; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream together the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture. Once it is mostly incorporated, slowly increase the speed back to medium-high and beat for another minute or so until a dough forms.
- Scoop out a tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball, and then roll it in the chocolate sprinkles and place it on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing your cookies about 1½ inches apart on the baking sheet. Make a slight indentation with your thumb (or the back of a melon baller - my favorite tool for this task) on the tops of all the cookies. Bake for 10 minutes, then make a deeper indentation in the middle, and bake for an additional 8 minutes. The cookies should not brown much at all around the edges. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the chocolate icing for the filling. Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until light and creamy. Reduce speed to low, add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and mix until combined, then increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth. Add the milk and the vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar or milk to achieve the desired consistency.
- Once the cookies are cool, pipe some frosting into the middle of each cookie (or you can spoon it in). Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
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I live in Pittsburgh too and love thumbprints!! The ones that they used to sell at Kaufman’s downtown were also delicious. I just made yours. So good!
I remember these cookies long before Giant Eagle. Kaufmann’s Department store had a bakery on the Mezzanine level where you could purchase these. Love them! I used low water butter and so had to add a few tablespoons of it to get this to come together as a dough. Thanks for the memories!
My daughter and I LOVE this cookie. We’ve never had a problem with the recipe. It is a very pretty cookie. If you can get European Dark Chocolate Sprinkles (I use DeRuijter) all the better.
Cookies spread very thin and so crumbly my kids can’t pick them up. I think this recipe needs more flour.
or egg?
Hi I MADE THE THUMB PRINT COOKIES BUT THE MIXTURE WAS DRY WHEN IT CAN TO MAKING THEM INTO THE BALLS. ANYSUGGESTIONS ALSO HOW DO YOU GET THE SPRINKLES TO STICK IF THE MIXTURE IS DRY. THANK YOU
I bake literally every day. The dough never formed. Only course crumbles and the sprinkles didn’t stick to the cookie. There’s only 5 ingredients and I didn’t even use salt because I used salted butter. I can’t figure out what the issue is. Should it just be 2 cups of flour?
Cookie was good but icing was really thin – definitely too thin to be piped. I made a chocolate buttercream instead.
I’ve made tons of desserts following your recipes and they all come out amazing . this is only website i come to for recipes. but this recipe however didnt come out that great i thought i followed everything carefully like i normally do but the cookie itself taste like dough . the icing came out perfect but something was missing in the cookie.
Followed your directions to a “T” resulting in a delicious cookie. Some of my guests thought I bought the cookies at the Giant Eagle the taste was so spot on. I used Penzey’s Dutch Process cocoa and the icing a a great taste. Did need to add a little milk to the icing for the desired consistency. Thanks for working so hared on this recipe.
Can you fix the photos on this page, please? :)
Hi Lisa, So sorry about that, no idea why they disappeared! I have fixed them, so you should see them now :)
GE Thumbprints are one my my favorite cookies- one of the few “store bought” I will even eat! Have you ever tried to recreate the regular icing? I’ve been trying since you posted this initially and just can’t seem to get it right. Any thoughts??
Hi Jen, I still haven’t been able to get it right… close, but not exact. It’s a serious mystery to me!
NEED to crack the code to the GE thumbprint icing! It is like a royal icing…only better. No matter how many blind taste tests my husband endures, he ALWAYS picks the GE icing! I really want that recipe!
I love Butter cream frosting, so I was wondering if I could sub butter cream
Fabulous cookie! I made both chocolate and colored sprinkles. Cookie tasted exactly as I had hoped they would, but like the previous post, I also had trouble getting the sprinkles to stick.
I made these on the weekend as part of our Christmas baking cookies. How do you get the sprinkles to stick?? I ended up rolling them in a beaten egg white so they would stick.
Elizabeth
I made these cookies and they are delicious, my whole family loved them! Although when I was making the icing, the butter, sugar and cocoa didn’t really become smooth it became more like rough sand. I just added the milk then because it was making a huge mess, but the icing still turned out great! Thanks for the recipe. :D
I made these yesterday and they are delicious!!! I shared them with friends and have passed on your website so they can make them, also. Thank you for sharing!
Hi. I just had to add to this. I’m from Pittsburgh and no longer live there, but those cookies were my weakness!! I used your recipe but instead of using 2 tsp of vanilla extract , I used just 1 tsp . Then , 1/2 tsp of almond extract and 1/2 tsp of imitation butter flavor . I also added another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, totaling 1 cup in the recipe. Now they are pretty dead on!! I used rainbow sprinkles instead and didn’t ice mine but that’s just my preference!!
Please provide your recipe…if it’s to copycat GE’s thumbprintcookies that use more of a royal icing.
I am a avid baker and bake for every birthday, the birthday person gets whatever cake they want. From my father wanting a lady Baltimore the way my great grandmother made it, didn’t match what I found online. To my younger brother who loves chocolate canned frosting. For years I have tried to duplicate chocolate canned frosting with no luck. He has even asked why don’t I just give in and give him what he wants. His birthday is coming up in two weeks and I am going to try this frosting this weekend. I am praying for luck, just once I would like him to think it came out of a can. :( BTW – I just love your site and your daily emails. Everything I have tired everyone has loved, hoping for success with the frosting.
Has anyone added an egg or just a yolk to the recipe and if so….what was the result?
These look awesome! Growing up in the Pittsburgh area, these have always been a big hit in our house. I am planning on making these for Christmas…using Christmas Sprinkles and green/red buttercream icing. Question….Do they freeze well?
Thanks so much!
Hi Kelley, I have not frozen these, but I do believe that they would freeze well.
I am making these today and had to taste test the not-so-perfect ones–delicious, even without the topping! I am curious if you decided to tweak the icing recipe or if you stayed with the one you list with the recipe? Thanks for all of the great recipes!
Thanks for sharing~ I’m getting the ingredients to make these. I found a cookie glaze that might work, it looks just like the store bought picture.
2 oz chocolate chips
2 T unsalted butter
1 T corn syrup
Melt in microwave 30 secs. Stir until smooth
I’m so excited to find this recipe and try these. As a former Pittsburgher I miss the thumbprint cookies at Kaufmann’a (macy’s) and these look very similar!
I moved from Pittsburgh 10 years ago and these were always my favorite from Giant Eagle. My mom still brings them to me when she visits and buys them when we come home. I’m going to try these!
These cookies did not taste like the store brand. Cooking time was way too long and cookies were hard. Highly disappointed.
The chocolate icing from Baked’s black and white cookie recipe might work well with these:)
This recipe was perfect!! These cookies are my husband’s favorite and I just made them for his birthday. I made mine with rainbow sprinkles and used a glazed frosting instead, since that’s what he wanted. I can’t wait to try the chocolate frosting next time! They are even better (for obvious reasons) than Giant Eagle’s cookies =)
I LOVE the Giant Eagle thumbprints so I tried this recipe as soon as I found it. My dough came out really crumbly. It was so crumbly that I could roll the cookies into balls. I had to pack them into balls. I also could not get the sprinkles to stick. What did I do wrong? I thought I followed the recipe exactly . . .
Hi Jen, I’m sorry you had some trouble with the recipe. Unfortunately, due to all of the variables that can go into baking a single recipe, a lot of times it’s virtually impossible for me to pinpoint what might have caused a problem since I wasn’t there with you. I hope you’ll give them another try!
I had the exact same problem. :(. So disappointing!!
I have always loved these cookies from the bakery. Figured they were much too difficult to make. Then I stumbled onto this recipe. Tried it immediately. LOVED them! Mine were a tad bit salty; but that’s because I used salted butter. Next time I’ll use unsalted, and can’t wait for the next time. Delish! So happy to have access to this recipe (and website)!
I buy these all the time here at our Giant Eagle in Cleveland. I swear I taste a hint of cherry or almond in the cookie which is why I love them so much. Thanks for the recipe, I’m going to give it a try.
Hi Browneyedbaker! I am a Pittsburgh girl and also LOVE the Giant Eagle thumbprints, but can’t seem to recreate them. However, I made a personal discovery recently – cake flour! (used it before for cakes but not cookies) I also love the colorful “Chinese cookies” from Giant Eagle, but couldn’t find a recipe for them either. Well, recently I found a knock-off recipe for Paradise Bakery sugar cookies and they call for cake flour in lieu of all purpose. They taste damn near spot on like the Chinese cookies! Now, I’m wondering if the cake flour would make a difference in the thumbprints? It gives the cookie a crumbly, almost “flour-y” texture, yet soft, which those have. Hmmmmm. Something to think about. Also, the fudge icing on the thumbprints- can’t for the life of me recreate it! looked for a recipe everywhere, but it ends up being too “chocolate buttercream” or chocolate syrupy. Thought it would be like a ganache, but no. I’m stumped! Well, anyway, I love your recipes- keep up the good work. Happy baking!
Hi Kim, Thanks so much for the tips, I’m going to give that a try! I’ll report back :)
Kim,
I am on the hunt for a recipe for those Giant Eagle Chinese Rainbow cookies! Could you share your Paradise Bakery find that is similar? Once I have those conquered, I just need to recreate Eat n Park’s honey sauce and their ranch dressing! Then, I will be a happy Pittsburgher living in the south!