Double Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprints

1 1/2 c. butter, soften (3 sticks)
1 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. really good vanilla (Bourbon Tahitian Vanilla for these)
3 c. flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (6 oz) semisweet mini chocolate chips
2/3 c. raspberry preserves
Powdered sugar (use this if you don't freeze the cookies)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease cookie sheets. With your mixer, beat butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. In separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa and salt until combined. Add flour mixture slowly into butter mixture and beat until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Place 2-inches a part on cookie sheet. Make deep indentation in center of each ball with thumb.

Fill center with raspberry preserves. Do not overfill.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes until just set. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

If you aren't going to freeze these you can dust them with powdered sugar or even more cocoa.

Store them between layers of waxed paper in airtight containers.

You may freeze them individually, then stack them with waxed paper in between layers and freeze for up to 1 month.

Makes: 4 1/2 dozen cookies



As usual, I baked my in the upper 1/3 of the oven and on parchment paper.

Vanilla
Since these are chocolate cookies, use your best vanilla. I used a really good Bourbon Tahitian Vanilla.

Chocolate Chips:
This dough is just to stiff for me to stir in the chocolate chips, so I add them last to the batter in the mixer. No chips were broken, so I would advise adding them this way.

Baking Time:
I only baked mine 11 minutes, they were perfect.
Since this is a very stiff dough and they are fairly small, the cookies will dry out quickly while baking. I found out years ago that you can so easily over bake them. After 10 minutes check them, they are probably just about done.