Easy Twix Thumbprint Cookies Recipe with Caramel and Chocolate Drizzle
These twix thumbprint cookies are a buttery shortbread base baked twice, filled with gooey melted caramel, and finished with a dark chocolate drizzle, a candy-bar twist on the classic. They take about 55 minutes start to finish including a freeze, make 20 cookies, and the second bake is what keeps the caramel from bubbling over the edge.
Twix is one of those candy bars people have strong loyalty to, and this cookie leans all the way into what makes it work: a crisp buttery base, a pull of soft caramel, and a layer of chocolate on top. Like the chocolate thumbprints, these get baked plain first, then re-pressed and filled, which sounds fussy until you see why it keeps the caramel exactly where it belongs instead of pooling off the side.
The caramel-melting step is where most people either over- or under-do it, so I’ll walk through exactly what it should look like before it goes into the wells.
If your dough balls crack when you press the first indent, that’s completely normal for this cookie, and I’ll explain why below.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Buttery shortbread base with a gooey caramel center and chocolate drizzle
- Tastes just like the candy bar, but in cookie form for a tray
- The double-bake method keeps the caramel wells clean instead of overflowing
- No candy thermometer needed, just soft caramels and a splash of cream
- Freezes well both as shaped dough and as finished cookies
- A guaranteed favorite on any holiday cookie plate
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170g) salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups (220g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 11 oz (310g) soft caramels, unwrapped
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips, melted, for drizzling
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Caramels: Soft chewy caramels (the individually wrapped kind) melt the most reliably with cream. Caramel bits sold for baking work too, but they can take a little longer to fully smooth out — keep stirring rather than adding more cream.
Salted butter: The salt here is doing real work against all that caramel and chocolate, so don’t swap to unsalted unless you add an extra pinch of salt to the dough.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cream the Butter and Sugar
Beat the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. A shortbread base like this depends on good creaming here for its texture, so don’t rush past this step.
Step 2: Add the Egg and Vanilla
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully combined. The mixture will loosen and turn glossy, which is expected.
Step 3: Mix in the Flour
Whisk the flour and salt together, then add it to the butter mixture on low speed just until combined, with no dry streaks left. Overmixing from here on is what makes these bake up tough instead of short and buttery.
Step 4: Roll, Indent, and Freeze
Scoop the dough into 1-tablespoon balls and roll smooth. Press a shallow indent into each one with your thumb or a rounded teaspoon — if the edges crack a little, that’s normal for this dough and just pinch them closed. Freeze the shaped dough for 10 minutes; this firms the butter back up so the cookies hold their shape instead of spreading flat in the oven.
Step 5: Bake Plain, First Pass
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake the dough balls for 9 to 10 minutes, until just set and pale golden at the edges. This first bake gives the cookie enough structure that re-pressing a deeper well afterward won’t crack or collapse it.
Step 6: Re-Press and Fill with Caramel
While the cookies are still warm, re-press the indent a little deeper with the back of a teaspoon. Melt the caramels with the heavy cream in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and pourable — it should look like thick, glossy syrup, not stiff or grainy. Spoon about 1 teaspoon into each well.
Step 7: Drizzle with Chocolate and Set
Let the caramel firm up at room temperature for about 15 minutes before drizzling. Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle over the tops in thin lines. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate sets before serving or stacking — if you’re in a hurry, 10 minutes in the fridge speeds this along.
Twix Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
- Whisk flour and salt; mix into wet ingredients until just combined.
- Roll into 1-tablespoon balls, press a shallow indent, pinch closed any cracks.
- Freeze shaped dough 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake plain dough balls 9-10 minutes, until just set.
- While warm, re-press the indent. Melt caramels with cream until smooth; spoon into each well.
- Let caramel set 15 minutes, then drizzle with melted chocolate.
- Let chocolate set fully before serving.
Notes
- The indent goes in twice, once before the first bake, and deeper after, this is what keeps the caramel wells from overflowing.
- Keep stirring the caramel and cream over low heat; it should look like glossy syrup, not grainy or stiff.
- Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients and will vary with brands and portion size.
A Candy Bar Favorite for Your Cookie Tray
Once you’ve melted caramel for this one time, the rest is easy — it’s really just bake, fill, drizzle, and wait. These disappear fast off any holiday tray, caramel and chocolate always do.
These keep well in the fridge for up to a week since the caramel stays softer that way, or freeze the fully finished cookies in a single layer before stacking. If you make these, I’d love to see how your chocolate drizzle turned out — leave a comment and a star rating below.
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