Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups (12.75 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
6 tablespoons unflavored vegetable shortening, room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
granulated sugar, for rolling

For Filling:
10 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (1 cup)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and spices; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and shortening together until smooth. Add sugar and beat 1 to 2 minutes or until fluffy. Beat in molasses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Add half of dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add remaining dry ingredients in two additions until no streaks of flour remain. The dough should be thick and just slightly sticky.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls (or use a small cookie scoop which is the perfect size). Roll into a smooth ball, then roll in granulated sugar. Arrange on prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between balls.

Gently press an indentation into each cookie using your thumb or the back of a rounded 1/4 teaspoon (something like a melon baller, or even a marble would also work well). Don’t press all the way, you want the indentation about half the depth of the cookie without it cracking too much around the edges.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until puffed and bottoms are just barely starting to darken; bake them on the lower side of the time range if you will be shipping your cookies or if you prefer softer cookies overall.

Re-press the puffed indentations while the cookies are still warm, then let cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

To make filling, gently melt chocolate together with butter and corn syrup in a saucepan over the lowest heat setting possible, or in the microwave on 50% power in 30 second intervals.

When chocolate is melted and smooth, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch-round tip, then pipe into thumbprints. You can also spoon the chocolate into the thumbprints, but I found the piping bag way more efficient. Let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour or refrigerate briefly until chocolate is set.