Thumbprint Cookies
Delicious buttery shortbread cookies filled with strawberry and apricot jam. These Thumbprint Cookies are perfect for the holidays or any occasion!
When it comes to cookies, you can’t beat a classic recipe. From my no-bake cookies to my homemade peanut butter cookies and these snickerdoodles cookies, I think it’s pretty obvious how much I adore them. And judging by how popular each of those recipes are on my site, I think it’s safe to say that you love them too!
So today I’m sharing another classic favorite with you – these easy jam thumbprint cookies. The cookie dough for this recipe is made with just 6 ingredients (that’s including the vanilla extract and salt!) and comes together in just a few minutes. There’s also no dough chilling required so you can just prep the cookies and pop them into the oven.
I filled these cookies with strawberry and apricot jam, but you can fill them with just about any flavor. I actually made a batch of these when my niece and nephew came over a few weeks ago and they went crazy for them. I guarantee you’ll love them too!
How To Make Thumbprint Cookies
To make these cookies, you’ll start out by mixing up the cookie dough which is just a simple mixture of butter, sugar, egg yolks, salt, vanilla, and flour. Let’s break down each ingredient:
- Butter: There are two sticks of butter in these thumbprint cookies to give them that rich buttery taste. I suggest sticking with unsalted butter in these cookies too since the amount of salt in salted butter can vary quite a bit between different brands.
- Sugar: I decided to go with granulated sugar for these cookies to help them spread just a little bit. I also like to roll the cookies in a little extra sugar before adding the jam and baking them, but this step is optional.
- Egg Yolks: There are two egg yolks in the cookie dough to help keep the cookies soft and not too crunchy!
- Vanilla Extract & Salt: Once you cream together the butter and sugar, you’ll mix in some vanilla for flavor and a little salt along with the egg yolks.
- All-purpose flour: The flour is mixed in at the very end and the dough will seem a little crumbly at first, but it will come together as you continue mixing it. Just be sure to spoon your flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife, so you don’t end up with too much and crumbly cookies.
Once the cookie dough is mixed up, you’ll use a one tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring spoon to measure out the cookie dough. I find that anything larger than one tablespoon is just too big for a thumbprint cookie.
Next, roll the cookie dough into balls and toss each one in a little granulated sugar. The sugar is optional for this part, but I love the extra crunch and sweetness it adds to the cookies. Then, make an indentation in each cookie using your thumb or something similar. I actually like to use the handle of a large wooden spoon for this step.
Then, fill each indentation with 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite jam. I really love Bonne Maman jam, so I used their strawberry and apricot jams here.
The final step for this thumbprint cookie recipe is to bake them. When it comes to shortbread cookies, you want to avoid overbaking them because they can end up crunchy and dry. I suggest baking these cookies for about 12-14 minutes, you’ll know they’re done when the tops are set and the bottoms are very lightly browned.
Baking Tips
- When measuring the flour for these cookies, make sure to spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- After you add the flour the cookie dough will be a little crumbly at first, this is normal! As you continue mixing, the dough will come together.
- Feel free to use your favorite flavor of jam in these cookies. I think they would be delicious filled with some homemade lemon curd too!
- Make sure not to overbake the cookies, I find that 12-14 minutes at 350°F (177°C) is the perfect amount of time.
Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (230 grams) unsalted butter softened
- 2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated sugar plus 3 tablespoons (40 grams) for rolling the cookies
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 and 1/3 cups (290 grams) all-purpose flour spooned & leveled
- 1/2 cup strawberry or apricot jam
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the eggs yolks, vanilla extract, and salt until fully combined, then mix in the flour. The mixture will be a little crumbly at first but it will come together as you continue mixing it.
- Using a one-tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon, measure out the cookie dough, roll into balls, roll each one in granulated sugar (optional), then place on the prepared baking sheets.
- Use your thumb (or the handle of a large wooden spoon) to press an indentation into each ball of cookie dough. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the indentation in each one.
- Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies are set and the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
I’ve been making these for 4 years now and they are ALWAYS a hit.
I do prefer to chill the dough for about 15 mins before rolling. I have had spreading issues before.
Pull them out on the early side or the bottoms
Get too dark. They look like they won’t set but they will I promise!
So easy to make and delicious! Followed the recipe exactly. Always spoon flour people, lol. Recipe made 42-44 cookies. I needed to make 80 so 2 batches was perfect! Will definitely be making again!
I’m really bummed at how these turned out for me. I followed the recipe perfectly & have even double checked measurements to make sure. The cookies spread out so thin and all ran together. Not sure if my oven runs hot, if I needed to chill the dough, or add more flour but I’d love to try it again
Hi, Lindy. If you followed the recipe perfectly, the cookies should not have spread all over the cookie sheet. If that happens, it’s usually because there’s either too much butter or not enough flour in the cookie dough. Did you make sure to use 2 sticks of butter? And did you spoon and level out 2 and 1/3 cups of flour? I always recommend using a food scale, if you have one, to ensure that you’re measuring everything correctly too.
I swear when i first found your recipe it called for powdered sugar in the dough. Am i mistaken or have you changed it since.
No, this recipe has always used granulated sugar. Maybe you’re confusing it with another thumbprint cookie recipe? I do have other cookie recipes on my site that use powdered sugar, like my snowball cookies and shortbread cookies.
How many cookies does this make? It sounds so good! I need to make them for a cookie exchange! I need 60 cookies!
If you use a one-tablespoon cookie scoop, you will get 42 cookies. I list the number of servings right above the ingredients in the recipe card 🙂
They dont seem to cook right. Even after 20 min they seemed uncooked. I make other stuff all the time without a problem. I even put them back in at 365 for another 6 min but they seemed raw inside. I make 42 but maybe I needed to flatten them more? Maybe that was the problem
You said that they were raw inside and maybe you needed to flatten them more. Did you not make the indentation and add the jam before baking?
I substituted using almond flour. It didn’t go well as my dough didn’t get crumbly. I had no more almond flour so started adding a bit of regular flour until the dough was formed enough to roll into balls
But as I did this I tested making one cookie at a time until I felt I had enough of that flour
I think I added at least an entire cup
I will not substitute flours again.
But the cookies finally did come out pretty good
This cookie dough was so dry i used Land O lakes unsalted butter, leveled off flour as instructed in this recipe the dough was so dry you had to hold it in your hand to warm up so could you roll into balls and it still crumbled , I have no idea what I did wrong. Anyone else have this problem
Did you make sure to also spoon the flour into the measuring cup before leveling it off? If you scoop the flour from the container, you can end up with too much and a dry dough.
Great recipe! I did only get 27 cookies using the 1 tablespoon scoop though. Gonna cut those in half and roll into balls and see how many I get with the next batch.
I followed the recipe exactly but my dough was so crumbly I had to add an entire egg so that I could get the rounded scoops to form. Worked well because the results were delicious!
That was supposed to say should I use a light colored cookie sheet or a dark colored cookie sheet or does it matter?
It would be best to use a light colored baking sheet if you have one. Darker baking sheets absorb more heat and tend to bake cookies faster.
Is it OK to use salted butter vs unsalted?
I recommend using unsalted butter so that you can control the amount of salt in the cookies. You could use it and just omit the salt from the recipe, but keep in mind that some brands of salted butter have more salt than others.
Can I coat these in wggwhite and walnut or will baking time differ?
That would be okay. You may need to increase the baking time slightly, but it shouldn’t take much longer.
Make these all the time, sometimes I use lemon curd and they’re always a huge hit.
The recipe was great, mine came out to exactly 36, I did half with strawberry jam and the other half with Bonne Maman mixed berry jam! They were delish!
I love making these cookies mainly bcuz I don’t have to drag out any mixer!!! I make them every holiday summer spring winter or fall!! Love them best recipe ever!!
Just made these tonight and I’ve already had three. Someone stop me. Or don’t. That’s fine too! They cooked perfectly. I did put them in the fridge for an hour before baking. But that just my own preference!
Do you think I could use gluten free flour for these?
I haven’t tried it, but if it’s one that substitutes 1:1 for all-purpose flour I think it would be okay.
I use gluten free flour when I make them. There fantastic
Hi, this recipe is amazing! Thank you for sharing it with the world! I added a dash of almond essence as well.
Trying to plan ahead for the busy month ahead – when you freeze the cookies, do you freeze them with the thumbprint or else as a ball and you make the indentation after you thaw them out?
If I’m freezing the cookie dough, I just freeze it as a ball and then make the indentation and fill after it’s thawed out.
Sounds so easy. Making them right now. 😋. Thank you
Is it possible to roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter? I want to make star cookies 🙂
I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe, but I do have a cutout sugar cookie recipe here that you could use for that.