Dubai Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
These Dubai Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies blend chocolate, pistachio, and kataifi for a luxurious take on the viral Dubai dessert sensation.
By Yankee Magazine|Oct 21 2025|
Dubai Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Photo Credit: Adam DeTour/styling by Sheila JarnesThe phenomenon known as Dubai chocolate originated as a milk chocolate bar filled with a creamy mixture of pistachio and kataifi (shredded filo)—a stunning combo created by FIX Dessert Chocolatier in, you guessed it, Dubai. It went truly viral last year, and the mix of chocolate, pistachio, and kataifi is now showing up in all kinds of desserts, from ice cream to hot chocolate. These decadent Dubai Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are my contribution to the canon, and they are, admittedly, a little extra. You may need to mail-order the kataifi (pronounced kuh-tay-fee) and pistachio cream, but both are sold in many Middle Eastern markets. And believe me, it’s worth the effort.
This Dubai Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies recipe was originally published in “Smart Cookies” by Amy Traverso and Sarah Hearn Morrison in the November/December 2025 issue of Yankee.
For the cookies
Ingredients
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1⅓ cups (225 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
⅔ cup (133 grams) granulated sugar, plus more for rolling cookies
2 large eggs, chilled
¾ cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Fill a saucepan with 2 inches of water and set over medium-high heat. When the water is simmering, set a medium heatproof bowl over the pot, but don’t let it touch the water (you can also use a double boiler here). Add the butter and chocolate chips to the bowl. Heat, stirring often, until the butter and chocolate are just melted and smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the sugar. This will bring the temperature of the mixture down. Whisk in the first egg until blended and smooth, then repeat with the second. Add half the flour and stir gently with a spatula until no flour is visible, then repeat with the remaining flour and the salt. Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap pressed to the surface of the dough and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F and set two racks in the center of the oven, with some space in between. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Fill a cereal bowl about halfway with granulated sugar.
Using a soup spoon, scoop out enough dough to roll into a ball about 1½ inches wide. Roll each ball in the sugar to coat. Arrange the balls on the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use your thumb, the handle of a large wooden spoon, or a cork to make an indentation in each cookie (see photo).
Set each cookie sheet on a different oven rack and bake until the edges are set, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove the sheets from the oven and push down the puffed indentations. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
For the topping
Ingredients
3 tablespoons kataifi
½ cup pistachio cream
¼ cup chopped toasted salted pistachios
Instructions
Meanwhile, make the filling: Stir the kataifi into the pistachio cream. When the cookies are warm but not hot, spoon a heaping teaspoon of the filling into the indentation of each cookie, using a clean, wet finger to smooth out any bumps. Top with a sprinkle of chopped pistachio, cool completely, then serve. Yields about 24 cookies.
