Almond Easter Thumbprint Cookies with Amaretto Chocolate Ganache
It’s suddenly hit me that Easter is not much more than a week away. Time to get organised with Easter eggs and a bit of Easter baking. These almond Easter thumbprint cookies turned out to be a real hit. They’re made with wholemeal spelt flour and ground almonds with a good dollop of amaretto chocolate ganache in the middle. Oh, and a cheeky little Easter egg perched on top – it’s all about the nest at this time of year.
Garden Birds
It actually feels a lot more like winter than spring today and any birds that started nesting in our brief balmy spell are probably regretting it now. Small birds need to eat a third of their body weight each day to survive the cold nights. I’m trying to help them by putting out nuts, seeds, fruit and fat, but I reckon they are having a hard time of it. Now we’ve got a proper garden, I’m really enjoying watching the little creatures flitting about and landing on the feeders, though not so much their fights over territory.
Easter Nests
But fights and cold weather aside, you’ve got to have some nests as well as eggs at Easter. It’s a celebration of spring after all. I often make chocolate cornflake nests or even shredded wheat ones, but this year I thought these almond Easter thumbprint cookies would make a nice change. With some chocolate ganache in the middle, I reckoned they looked representative enough to pass the Easter nest test.
Almond Easter Thumbprint Cookies
Marzipan and chocolate are the two flavours I most associate with Easter. I’m a big fan of both. Those flavours just had to be represented in my Easter nests. I didn’t use actual marzipan, but I added some ground almonds to the thumbprint mix along with some almond extract. You have to be careful with almond extract; it’s strong stuff and can overwhelm other ingredients very easily. I added half a teaspoon, which gave just the result I was looking for.
As usual when baking, I used my favourite wholemeal spelt flour as the base for these almond Easter thumbprint cookies. However, I added some buckwheat flour as well as the ground almonds to the mix. Buckwheat flour has a certain smooth quality which I particularly like in bakes, but you can use all spelt flour instead if you prefer.
Amaretto Chocolate Ganache
To up the marzipan anti, I added some amaretto to the chocolate ganache – any excuse, I know! I used 72% dark chocolate for the ganache, but for something a little milder and sweeter you could use a good quality milk chocolate instead. I found the slight bitterness offset the sweetness of the thumbprints quite nicely and I didn’t get any complaints from anyone else.
Cooking with Kids
These almond Easter thumbprint cookies are a fun bake to do with young children. They’ll probably enjoy sticking their thumbs into the cookie dough to make the requisite thumbprint holes. The cookies are really easy to make. The hardest bit is creaming the butter and sugar together and as long as you’ve taken the butter out of the fridge to soften before going ahead, this shouldn’t be too arduous. You can make the amaretto chocolate ganache whilst the thumbprints are cooking, although you’ll probably want to leave the amaretto out if young people are likely to be sharing in the bounty.
Almond Easter Thumbprint Cookies – The Recipe
- 200 g golden caster sugar
- 125 g unsalted butter - softened
- 75 g cream cheese
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 250 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 50 g buckwheat flour or use wholemeal spelt instead
- 25 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 75 g dark chocolate or use milk chocolate if you prefer or a mixture of both
- 50 ml double cream
- 15 g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp Amaretto
- 20 mini eggs
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the cream cheese, followed by the egg and almond extract.
- Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until you have a soft dough.
- Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls between the palms of your hands and place well apart on a baking tray.
- Push your thumb into the middle of each ball to flatten the cookies a little and create a hollow.
- Bake at 180C for about 15 minutes when the cookies should be golden in colour.
- Leave on the tray for a couple of minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.
Melt the chocolate with the cream and amaretto over a low heat in a small pan.
- Stir until just combined, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Stir again.
- Spoon the ganache into the thumbprint holes and leave for a few minutes to firm up a little. Top with a mini egg.
The mixture makes 20 large cookies, but it will make many more if you prefer a smaller size.
Depending on the size of your oven and baking tray (s), you may need to bake in two batches.
Link-ups
Linking up these almond Easter thumbprint cookies to #CookBlogShare over at Recipes Made Easy, Baking Crumbs with Only Crumbs Remain, #CookOnceEatTwice with Searching for Spice and #BakeOfTheWeek with Casa Costello.
Other Easter bakes you might like
- Amaretto Easter cupcakes with crystallised flowers via Tin and Thyme
- Apple & carrot healthy hot cross buns (vegan) via Sneaky Veg
- Cadbury creme egg cupcakes via My Gorgeous Recipes
- Choc cross buns via Tin and Thyme
- Chocolate and banana crème egg surprise via Searching for Spice
- Chocolate marble cheesecake via Jo’s Kitchen Larder
- Crème egg stuffed chocolate cookies via Munchies and Munchkins
- Easter bunny butt cupcakes via Only Crumbs Remain
- Easter meringue crème egg traybake via How to Cook Good Food
- Easy Italian braided Easter bread via Veggie Desserts
- Gluten-free crème egg brownies via Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
- Easter galaxy golden eggs chocolate piñata cake via Jo’s Kitchen
- Healthier Easter biscuits with purple corn flour & yacon powder (vegan) via Tin and Thyme
- Hot cross bun baked doughnuts via Curly’s Cooking
- How to make Easter simple cake via Farmersgirl Kitchen
- Kulich (Russian Easter cake) via Chez Maxima
- Maltese figolli biscuits via Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen
- Mini egg brownies (gluten-free) via Just The Three of Us
- Mini simnel cakes (gluten-free) via Easy Peasy Foodie
- Nettle, lemon & white chocolate cupcakes via Tin and Thyme
- Quick & easy Easter nest cupcakes via Eats Amazing
- Scotch brownie creme eggs via Stacey in the Sticks
- Simnel mincemeat Easter cake with chocolate truffle apostles via Tin and Thyme
- Spiced rum Easter chocolate cakes via Tin and Thyme
- Spicy chocolate & orange Easter bundt cake via Tin and Thyme
- Surprise Easter egg cupcakes via Tin and Thyme
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these almond Easter thumbprint cookies, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or via social media. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them. For more delicious and nutritious recipes, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.
Almond Easter Thumbprint Cookies. PIN IT.
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
20th March 2018 at 8:36 pmThese are gorgeous plus I love all the almond/marzipan/amaretto theme going on 🙂 and of course mini eggs and chocolate too! Perfect Easter cookies!
Choclette
21st March 2018 at 8:20 amAw, thanks Jo. You can probably tell I’m a fan of almonds, marzipan and amaretto 😀
Phil in the Kitchen
20th March 2018 at 10:45 pmI hadn’t thought about Easter until you mentioned it. It feels too much like midwinter. Now I just want some chocolate and your cookies would do me very well. Especially since I’m very much in favour of adding Amaretto to baking whenever possible.
Choclette
21st March 2018 at 8:21 amAh, it’s not just me and Amaretto then? Luckily you only have a week or so to wait now for the chocolate Phil, so hang on in there.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
21st March 2018 at 6:01 amGanache topped nutty wholesome cookies…that sounds heavenly.
Choclette
21st March 2018 at 8:22 amThey were pretty good Angie. I wish more people would bake with wholemeal flour and realise it adds rather than detracts from most things.
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
21st March 2018 at 11:19 amYou had me at amaretto Choclette! I just love almond/marzipan flavours – and of course some chocolate never goes amiss does it! You’re so right, the birds are having a hard time of it at the moment aren’t they. We feed the birds too, it’s so lovely watching them come to the bird table to take some ‘easy’ food – it’s great when the chicks arrive too and they stand there with their arms / wings out wide begging to be fed! If you have access to some cat fur from a long/semi long haired cat you could put the fur collected from being groomed into a peanut feeder (pulling the fur through the large mesh squares). At this time of year we get little blue tits collecting it to line their nest. It’s so funny (on so many levels) watching them fly off with a huge pile of fur!
Thankyou too, for linking to my Easter cupcakes,
Angela x
Choclette
21st March 2018 at 12:00 pmAh yes, I think I knew you were a fellow marzipan fan. Great tip re the fur, though I don’t actually have a cat or even know anyone who does. The tits are my favourite. We seem to have them all, though the long tail tits are the most noisy.
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
29th March 2018 at 8:02 pmI definitely am a fellow marzipan fan Choclette! It never lasts long when Mum & I are on the case lol. Ooh yes, long tail tits are one of my favourites – they are very ‘chatty’ sociable birds and so very pretty. Thankyou for linking up with #BakingCrumbs too,
Angela x
Galina Varese
21st March 2018 at 11:19 amFantastic! All my favourite flavours together – almonds, chocolate, buckwheat, Amaretto! Thank you for linking up with my recipe! xxx
Choclette
21st March 2018 at 12:01 pmThanks Galina. It seems a lot of us are very fond of almonds and their associated products 🙂
Kate
21st March 2018 at 11:42 amI’ve been trying to look after our birds too. They’ve been queuing up to eat at the fat balls. Poor things.
These cookies look so tasty and I love the sound of the ganache.
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:25 pmLuckily, spring has arrived and I’m pleased to see there seems to be as many birds as ever – phew! Chocolate and Amaretto is a divine combination.
Elizabeth
21st March 2018 at 2:36 pmI didn’t know Easter was so soon either! I need to get into gear and get something for the kids! These cookies look absolutely fab, perfect with a cuppa, I should think!
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:04 pmThanks Elizabeth. Everything comes around so fast, I find it hard to keep up sometimes. These cookies are fab with or without a cuppa 😉
Cat | Curly's Cooking
21st March 2018 at 3:17 pmThese look cute and so delicious with the chocolate ganache.
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 4:52 pmThanks Cat. They are pretty good as standalone cookies, but the chocolate raises them up a few more notches 🙂
Jacqui Bellefontaine
21st March 2018 at 8:47 pmThese look cute with the mini eggs on top. and chocolate and almonds is a great combination I love too. Thank you for linking to #CookBlogShare
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:05 pmThanks Jacqui. If I’d got my act together I’d have made a simnel cake, but these cookies aren’t too bad a substitute.
johanna @ green gourmet giraffe
22nd March 2018 at 10:53 amI love these bikkies – they look so cute for easter and so delicious – I had some almond essence and I think I have used it once as I never quite see the point so it is interesting to hear you talk about it.
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:08 pmThanks Johanna. I guess it just depends how much of a marzipan fan you are. Almond extract is pretty much a crucial ingredient for it. I’ve always been a bit wary about anything that says ‘essence’ as it often seems to be made from artificial ingredients.
Mandy
22nd March 2018 at 1:14 pmThese are just so pretty. I love anything almond. Thanks for linking to my hot cross buns – I’ve linked back to your post here.
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:18 pmAw thanks Mandy, that is kind of you. You’re hot cross buns sound ace.
Kat (The Baking Explorer)
22nd March 2018 at 8:37 pmThey look so cute and sound absolutely scrummy!
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:17 pmThanks Kat. I’m all for cute and scrummy 🙂
jenny walters
23rd March 2018 at 9:53 amThese look perfect for Eater!So dinky! I do keep meaning to try more of the wholemeal flours.I’m not sure what I’m doing exactly!There are such a lot to choose from on the shelf!x
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:16 pmOh do try Jenny. Wholemeal spelt is my first choice and stoneground if you can get it. It’s an easy all-round flour to use and has a lovely nutty taste. It is more expensive than regular wholemeal flour though.
Corina Blum
24th March 2018 at 6:27 amThese look so good! I’m a real fan of anything with almond flavours and these sound absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:14 pmThanks Corina. It’s looking like we ought to start an almond fan club 😀
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist
24th March 2018 at 9:47 pmEaster has certainly snuck up quickly this year!
These Thumbprint Cookies look so good…. I love that you have used the print as a nest x
Choclette
26th March 2018 at 5:13 pmAh, only a few days to go and I am hopelessly behind. But I guess I can always make some more of these – complete with nests of course.
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
27th March 2018 at 11:35 amOoh yum – these look delicious. Thank you for including my Mini Simnel Cakes in your roundup (though, just to let you know – there appears to be a little typo, you’ve got them down as Mini ‘Simple’ Cakes – I think the spellchecker may have been on overdrive…they are pretty to simple to make though!!) Eb x
Choclette
28th March 2018 at 8:46 amOops sorry Eb. I’ll go and sort that out straight away. My spell checker really doesn’t like simnel.
Rebecca - Glutarama
27th March 2018 at 2:50 pmI’ve not made thumbprint cookies for ages, and quite frankly the addition of amaretto is just pure genius! Kids won’t like I’m sure of it so there would be more for me hahaha
Choclette
28th March 2018 at 8:45 amYou’ve made a good case for keeping the Amaretto in 😀
jenny paulin
28th March 2018 at 10:51 amThese look so cute and pretty , a perfedct little tyreat for adults over easter. The flsvours sound delightful too. thak you for sharing with #Bakeoftheweek x