Gingerbread Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

Hold on to your stockings ’cause I have some really exciting news!

I’ve recently joined forces with Pillsbury in a fantastic partnership where I will be creating recipes for them and sharing them with you guys too! It’s basically a match made in heaven. I’m all about simple and easy recipes and so is Pillsbury.

They even have a page on their website where they showcase all their “We Heart Makers” profiles, and you can see mine right there among some other fantastic bloggers! Woot woot! 🙂

Last weekend Pillsbury whisked me away to the General Mills Headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota for a fun filled experience where I was able to take a tour of their facilities (um, WOW), cook in the Betty Crocker test kitchens (pinch me), and create some wonderful recipes.

I’m sharing one of those recipes here today – These Gingerbread Turtle Thumbprint Cookies are ridiculously easy to make and taste incredible!

I can’t get over how addicting these little thumbprint cookies are. I’ve already made these twice since coming back home from my whirlwind weekend.

I’m sure you just really want to hear more about my weekend and less about cookies right???

ok, ok, ok…

Here’s a picture of me cooking away in the Betty Crocker test kitchens. It was so neat. There were very nice ladies bustling around making sure we had everything we needed to create our dishes. I wanted to take one home with me.

We all made a batch of appetizers (which I’ll be sharing with you soon) and a batch of the Gingerbread Turtle Thumbprint Cookies. Then they turned us loose and let us create our very own cookie creation using our choice of their refrigerated cookie dough line.

They set out a table full of ingredients to choose from. It looked like a gingerbread house exploded all over the table! SO much to choose from!

I spotted some Reese’s peanut butter cups and knew instantly that I wanted to make a simple peanut butter cookie cup that was filled with a quick chocolate mouse with chopped up Reese’s on top.

You can never go wrong with Chocolate and Peanut Butter.

They turned out awesome!! The Pillsbury peanut butter cookie dough is one of my favorites!

Jocelyn from Inside BruCrew Life made this delicious chocolate chip coconut cookie concoction.

And Tonia from The Gunny Sack created these adorable peppermint hot chocolate cookie cups that everyone was “oooo-ing and aaah-ing” over. Aren’t they just super cute?!

I really enjoyed my time in the kitchen. It was great to not have my kids constantly asking for bites or to lick the spoon. Although I did find it difficult to not lick my fingers every time they got a little bit of cookie dough on them…

This was our fabulous group of bakers! We all had a great time!

Are you ready for the Gingerbread Turtle Thumbprint Cookies now?

I don’t blame you, it’s one fantastic recipe. It uses the Gingerbread cookie dough, the same dough that I used to make the Eggnog Cheesecakes with gingerbread cookie crust! So. Good.

It’s rolled into balls, then coated with walnuts or pecans (I’ve tried both and either one is fantastic), then it’s filled with a creamy dulce de leche and drizzled with milk chocolate. It’s dreamy.

You’re going to want to print this recipe.

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Gingerbread-Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

• Yield: makes 40 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 roll (30z) Pillsbury refrigerated Gingerbread Cookies
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 egg whites, beaten
• 2 cups finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)
• 1 cup dulce de leche or caramel dessert topping
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in flour until well blended. Shape dough into 40 balls. Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. Place chopped nuts in a mother shallow bowl. Dip each ball into egg whites, then roll each ball in chopped nuts. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press thumb in center of each cookie to make indentation.
3. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until cookies are set around edges. Remove cookies to cool in rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes. Place 1 teaspoon dulce de leche in indentation of each cookie.
4. In a small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate uncovered on High 30 seconds, stir. Continue to microwave in 15 second increments until chocolate is melted and smooth. Drizzle chocolate mixture over cookies. Enjoy!

Notes

recipe courtesy of Pillsbury

disclaimer: Pillsbury fully paid for my trip to visit their headquarters in Minneapolis. All thoughts and opinions here are my own.