Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

I love myself some thumbprint cookies. Like... I really really love them. The texture is just right, they are soft and crumbly. The taste of the cookie is simple yet very delicious. The little bit of almond extract adds a perfect little perk to these delights. Once you add your melted chocolate to the top... hold on to your shorts, toupees, glasses or whatever else you don't want flying off your body. Yes, they are that good.

So here we go...

Cookies (adapted recipe from here):
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Melted chocolate topping:
1 cup dark chocolate raspberry baking chips
4 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Cream together butter and powdered sugar until the texture is smooth. Add egg yolks, vanilla extract and almond extract. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a cookie sheet by using parchment paper or by spraying the sheet with a light coating of cooking spray.

Roll dough into small balls, about 1 inch. Place on cookie sheet and press a small indent into the dough ball. Use your thumb or the handle of a wooden spoon.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let them rest on the pan for a minute or two before moving them to the cooling rack.

For the topping, combine chips and cream together in a microwaveable bowl. Start by microwaving the two ingredients for 1 minute. Remove and stir together. Keep microwaving until the chocolate has a smooth texture.

I let the cookies cool for about 45 minutes before adding the chocolate. I waited 2 seconds, maybe less, to eat one. The chocolate eventually hardens but I can not resist eating at least one cookie with all of its melted chocolate goodness. I used a spoon to drip the chocolate into the indent of the cookie. Another way is to pour the chocolate into a Ziploc bag and cut off a small corner and squeeze the chocolate onto the cookie.