Strawberry-Nutella Thumbprint Cookies

Update:

These cookies were tried by 3 people I know of who came back and told me about their experience.I m linking them here and here. One of the bakers, Mindy commented on the post herself that they turned out good for her. But for Rachelle, it didnt work out fine.I am adding these feedbacks to help those people who want to try out this recipe.Thanks everyone.Your suggestions are always welcome.

I had a “fruity” trip to Costco two weeks back.The motive of the trip was to escape the indulgence that me and P had been showing for months towards wafers & chocolates from the “unhealthy section ” of my kitchen.Yes,we have a cabinet by that name in the kitchen.It was set up by P during soccer world cup last year when he used to watch late night games.World cup got over but the cabinet remained in all its glory.All P does during visits to grocery stores is to shop for that section.I may not have a pod of garlic at home in the name of vegetables, but this cabinet maintained by him is at an acme of abundance at all times.I also take a sneak peek sometimes from it,after all I have allowed him space for such nasty stuff in the kitchen

Coming back from Costco,I had a refrigerator stuffed with fruits.Not that we are not eating them, but the impulsive decision of buying fruits from a wholesale store was not at all a fab idea.I ate fruits for breakfast and lunch and P had his quota after dinner[with cream].After stuffing ourselves with strawberries and bananas and kiwis to the point that we felt kind of yucky at the mention of fruits,I still had a handful left at the verge of making their way to the bin.This also coincided with the fact that I wanted to bake cookies with strawberries for a long time.And then I came to know from the blog world that Feb 5th is World Nutella Day.

So I decided to marry both the ideas into these cookies to add more punch to P’s section.We loved them immensely.So guys here I am with second eggless recipe after these honey sesame crisps.At first, I baked the cookies by mixing chopped strawberries in the dough and topping with sort of nutella ganache.They tasted great but looked ugly and pale.Then, I baked these second time by using crushed strawberries & drops of red color in the dough for a lovely pink color and a nutella thumbprint.We adored the look of them.Its a very simple recipe and uses basic ingredients from your pantry.

The reason I am trying eggless recipes these days is for one of my 6-year-old cousin T who has an allergy to eggs by birth.The very thought of a kid not being able to eat cookies and cakes is really saddening for me.I hope my aunt back in India would be able to reproduce these cookies for her.So this recipe goes out especially for her and for all you lovely people too.Dont forget to see the notes at the end.

What I need: [Makes 22 cookies of the size shown][updated]

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tbsp unsalted butter [softened]
7 tbsp granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking powder [use aluminium free]
pinch of salt
3 tbsp thick crushed fresh strawberry mix [homemade by crushing  strawberries with 1 tsp of milk [if required]+2 drops of red food color] [the quantity of strawberry mix will vary depending upon the consistency,please be judgemental]
Nutella [for filling]

How I did it:

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.Set aside.
In another bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar using a hand-held mixer for about 4 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract and crushed strawberry to the bowl and combine well with the butter mixture using a whisk.
Fold in the flour mixture with the butter mixture gently to form a dough.The dough will be soft and a little sticky but not loose.Do not over mix. You might need to oil your hands and bring the dough together.
Once combined, cover the dough with a plastic cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 F/175 C.
Line your cookie sheet with a parchment paper.

Take out the refrigerated dough,lightly oil your palms and make small balls with it.Put the balls on the cookies sheet and press down slightly to flatten out.

With the help of your thumb or back of a tea-spoon make a small hole in the middle of the cookies where u ll fill the nutella after baking.
If at this point you feel that the butter in the cookies is melting, refrigerate again for about 15 minutes.

Bake the cookies in the oven for about 8-12 minutes or untill the bottom starts turning brown. Mine took 10 minutes exact.Do not bake them beyond 12 mins.These will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven.
Take out the cookie sheet from the oven and using the teaspoon again press out the hole in the cookies.You will not be able to do this after the cookies have cooled.
Once the cookies have cooled, fill in the nutella in the little holes in the cookies.
Serve with cold milk.

I have adjusted these from a basic recipe here .Notes:

The consistency of strawberry mix is of real importance.Make a thick, almost paste like mix in your processor/blender.If some bits remain, it does not matter but the mix should not be runny or watery.
The color of cookies/dough can differ depending on how red your strawberries are.I chopped off the white portions and used red part only.
I made my cookies less sweet because with nutella filling they could be very overwhelming.
The dough can be slightly difficult to work with,but refrigerate and it will be manageable.
Since every oven is different, the time of baking may vary from appliance to appliance.
You can fill in the cookies with any jam or melted chocolate chips too.

Enjoy! Have a nice weekend everyone.

Sending these to Culinary Smackdown Battle-Cookies