Baklava Thumbprint Cookies

square crop looking down on some cookies on a wire tray.

5 from 1 vote

Baklava Thumbprint Cookies

These easy Baklava Thumbprint Cookies have the sticky honey-sweet goodness of baklava, without all the work and the crumbly mess. Made with a brown sugar honey dough, this cookie recipe gets stuffed with a sweet honey walnut filling with just a hint of cardamom.

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American, Greek, Middle-Eastern

Keyword baklava, thumbprint

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Total Time 40

Servings cookies

Calories 97kcal

Author Debi

Ingredients

Dough:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup honey
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (6 ounces)
½ cup honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make dough:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add honey, egg yolks, and vanilla, and mix in.
1 cup unsalted butter, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup honey, 2 large egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add the flour, cinnamon, and salt, mixing until no white spots of flour remain. The dough will be stiff and mixing with your hands may be necessary. Set the dough aside.
4 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt

Make filling:

In a small mixing bowl, combine chopped walnuts, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, and vanilla extract, stirring until thoroughly combined.
1 cup finely chopped walnuts, ½ cup honey, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Shape and bake the cookies:

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Roll dough into small, ½ tablespoon-sized balls (a small cookie scoop works great for this). Place balls 1" apart on greased baking sheets or baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Create a deep, round indentation in the center of each ball using a fingertip or the back of a teaspoon. Doing this will flatten the balls slightly.
Fill each hole with a rounded ½ teaspoon of filling (filling should be mounded up a bit). Bake cookies for 10 minutes, until light golden brown and the filling will be bubbling.
Remove from the oven, leaving the cookies on the baking sheet to cool for five minutes, then place on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.

Notes

I like to shape the cookies assembly line style. Roll all the dough balls, then, make all the indentations, then fill them all.

You’ll most likely have some extra filling leftover after filling all of the cookies; I like to stir it into some yogurt for a snack.

The cookies don’t spread very much when they bake, so they don’t need too much room on the cookie sheet.

Only bake as long as directed in the recipe. The cookies keep cooking while cooling on the pan.

MAKE AHEAD: Baklava Thumbprint Cookies can be made ahead and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw before serving.

Makes about 60 bite-sized cookies

Nutrition