Chocolate Orange Thumbprint Cookies

Day 2 of my Cookie Countdown to Christmas brings us to one of my favourite flavour combinations, not just for Christmas but all year long: Chocolate Orange. 

I'm pretty sure I've eaten a good few Terry's already this year, and that's before Christmas even started.

This flavour combination was a must have within these 12 days of cookies and these cookies turned out to be easier than I thought they would be. The dough is thick and fudgy, and the centre is a smooth chocolate orange ganache. 

Just look at those little, glossy pools of the ganache... Dreamy.

As with most cookie doughs, the only thing you'll need to keep in mind for this recipe is preparation. I think that's the secret with most good cookies that a lot of us want to skip, it's the patience to wait for them to properly chill. 

I know I definitely lack a lot of patience, whether it's chilling dough or waiting for yeast to rise, but I'm trying to improve on it. For these, you can prep them a few days ahead of baking and keep the dough in the fridge, then pop them in the oven when you're ready. By chilling the dough, you allow the flavours to mix properly together and it also helps split up the task of making and baking, so you simply only need to bake and fill with ganache on the day. 

Then eat, but that's the easy part. 

Chocolate Orange Thumbprint Cookies

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, room temperature

100g caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp orange extract

130g plain flour

30g cocoa powder

60ml double cream

8 slices of Terry's Chocolate Orange

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale, light and fluffy. Then add the egg and the orange extract. 
2. Once combined, sift in the flour and cocoa powder and mix until the flour has just disappeared. Be careful not to overmix. (Overmixing leads to a tougher texture)
3. Roll out little 1tbsp balls and place them onto a plate to chill in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours, but preferably overnight. You can chill the dough for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the cookie balls at this point as well, if you would like to keep for future. 
4. When ready to bake, line a tray with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180c/350f. Place a few of the cookies onto the tray, I fit around 8 to a tray to begin with - they will spread a small amount, but not much. 
5. When on the tray, take the handle end of a spatula or your thumb and press a hole into the cookie dough ball. Don't go all the way to the bottom, but make sure it is a big enough well to put some ganache topping. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. 
6. When removing them from the oven, be sure to let them cool on the tray for a little while before moving as they will be delicate. If you find that the hole in the middle has risen, you can just press it back down with the handle of a spatula. 
7. While the cookies are cooling down, make the ganache by heating the double cream either in a saucepan over a low heat or in the microwave. You want the cream to be hot enough that it melts the chocolate. Place the chocolate orange slices in a small bowl, then pour the hot cream over. Leave to sit for a few minutes. Then stir to combine until all of the chocolate has melted. You can leave it on the side or in the fridge until you are ready to decorate. In the fridge it will thicken up faster, but will usually take a couple of hours.
8. To decorate, spoon or pipe the ganache into the holes and then serve!