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.
If I want to substitute the jam with caramels or Hershey’s kisses, do they still go in for the full baking time or do I add them later ? Thanks
I would add both later. You may be able to bake them without making the indentation, just as a ball of cookie dough. When they come out of the oven, you could make could make the indentation for the caramel with the back of a measuring teaspoon or press a Hershey’s kiss into them.
OMG these are the best thumbprint cookies I’ve ever had. Soft, sweet, and a little crunch from the sugar. I will Be making many more of these cookies.
It was fantastic.smooth & tasty. Can’t stop eating them. It looks like I’m baking more. Thank you!!
This recipe is great! I love that you don’t have to refrigerate it prior to baking. I made my gf and they turned out amazing. I didn’t roll them in sugar and used a cookie scoop. When using the cookie scoop, I only got 31 cookies. I’ll have to double the recipe next time. ?
I’ve used this recipe repeatedly. It’s perfection! I’ve filled with Raspberry Jam, Strawberry Jam, Apricot Jam and Fig & Honey jam. I have a whole slew of new filling flavors this year! Lemon curd, Orange Marmalade, Dark Cherry jam, Fig & orange, and Raspberry Lemon!
What if the dough is too buttery ?
I’m not sure what you’re asking. Was the dough difficult to work with? Were the cookies spreading in the oven? Did you add too much butter?
Came out crumbly but maybe too much flour? Need to figure out on my end.
Question about the lemon curd. If I was to use your recipe homemade And it says to cool. Do I add the lemon curd before baking into the cookies or after the cookies are baked?
Thank you!!
Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? Did you double check the measurements that you used too? If you’re using lemon curd, you will want to add it before baking the cookies.
The last time I made these i messed up the recipe by adding the whole eggs and too much flour because i misread it or mixed it up with another recipe i was using. this time however, i followed the recipe exactly (except for the amount of cookies, i made just over a dozen both times) and my cookies spread a whole lot. last time they didn’t, is there any reason for them spreading this time around?
Did you double check the measurements? If you used too much butter or too little flour, that could cause them to spread. Was your butter very warm or melted when you mixed the dough together? If it’s too warm, that could cause the cookies to spread as well.
This cookie turned out perfect for what I had in mind. The sugar dusting is a perfect touch. However, I did only use about 95 grams of sugar instead, which worked perfectly with sweet strawberry jam. Advice for future me; don’t go light on the jam, the cookies will sit heavy in your mouth and it just tastes so much better when there’s a bit of jam with every bite.
Absolutely delicious! I made them the other day and everyone loved them. I used peach jelly and today I’m making them again for another dinner party we’re going to, and I’m using raspberry jelly! Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe! The recipe turned out perfect both times!
Absolutely the best shortbread type cookie that I’ve ever made. The tips, the instructions, the simpleness of it all was wonderful! Thank you so much!!
I have made this recipe no less than 10 times since they quickly became a favourite in the house. I especially love the fact that you can either make tiny ones or larger ones. I usually weigh them into 20g balls since it stops them from being eaten as quickly but today I made them to sell to raise money so I doubled the size and it worked the same texture wise. This recipe is just so great.
They were delicious . Have to double recipe next time.
Hi Danielle! The dough cracks whenever I indent it. How do I make mine look smooth like yours?
Hi, Christine! You can roll each piece of cookie dough into a ball with your hands first, then indent it. I find that if the dough is a little warmer, it’s easier to indent.
These were great. I made some with apple butter and I added cinnamon to the dough mixture
How much cinnamon did you add to the mixture? Great idea ☺️
I didn’t have any problem with the do ugh but the jam spreaded to the edges of cookies even though the holes were deep enough . They really tasted great but I’m really unsatisfied about the layout. What sort of mermelade and consistence should I use? Thank you for your backup.
Did you over fill them? If so, you could try adding a little less and see if that helps. I prefer to use a thicker jam, like Bonne Maman preserves.
Delicious!
But, at the same time it was a bit difficult;
I forgot to add +1 bar of butter in the dough, so it was dry, but I was able to fix it on time.
Then I ended up having half large and half normal thumbprint cookies because I didn’t see that my scoop was twice as large as 1 tbsp.
But it turned out great!
Decided to make some for my high school band after a concert. Love how cost effective the recipe is! Subbed jam for hersheys kisses and they worked a treat!
Simply the BEST thumbprint cookies I’ve ever tasted. So soft, just the right sweetness and bakes to perfection every single time. I must double the batch every time I make them to keep the family happy. Thank You!!!!
I would not recommend this recipe. I wanted to try it because of all of the positive reviews. The recipe is dry and crumbly. I have made quite a few different thumbprint cookies recipes and this one just doesn’t taste as good. I thought maybe I had missed a step or didn’t add the right amount of something. I read it over 3 different times. I didn’t make any mistakes. The cookies came out ok, but I will not be making this again.
Sorry the cookies didn’t turn out well for you, Mandy. The cookie dough shouldn’t be dry though, so I’m wondering if there was either too much flour or not enough moisture in your cookie dough. Did you use 2 sticks (1 cup of butter)? Did you make sure to spoon & level your flour or weigh it? And did you use large egg yolks?
I made these today & my husband loved them. The only thing I did differently was chilling them in the fridge for 20 mins before I popped them in the oven. I was a little worried when I saw how dry the dough was but the cookie turned out perfectly. Thank you for the recipe.
How many grams in your cup of flour? I don’t want to waste the ingredients with the wrong guess since there’s such a range between bakers who use cups (120-150). Thank you!
I spoon and level my flour, which yields about 125 grams per cup. You can find my post on how I measure flour here.
My kid and I loved making (and eating!) these cookies. The recipe was easy to follow, the batter was perfect consistency and the cookies were delicious. Thank you for posting the weight in grams and the temp in C for those of us using metric 🙂
I just made these and they didn’t keep form. They puffed up and looked like a regular cookie. I followed the instructions and it still didn’t work. I liked that this recipe was simple and easy.
Sorry you had trouble with the recipe, Sabrina. Did you make sure to add the jam before you baked the cookies too?
Delicious!!!
Easy and turned out perfect! Can’t wait to make them again!
Wonderful! No cracking, which is usually my problem with these type cookies. I had to bake a little longer as my oven is slow. Thank you!
Love this recipe! I’ve used it multiple times and they turn out perfectly: light but buttery, very easy to eat. I had a question about flour substitutions. I wanted to try subbing in a little buckwheat flour. Has anyone tried this? Should I alter the other ingredients in any way if I subbed 1/3 cup buckwheat flour? Appreciate any feedback!
I haven’t tried it, so it’s hard to say. I would think if you’re just using 1/3 cup, then the rest is all purpose flour, it would probably be okay.
I substitute using half if organic coconut flour and the rest all purpose flour. I like the hint of coconut
These were fabulous! I did compare measuring the dry ingredients and weighing them and what a difference. I would have had too much flour if I used measuring cups. I weighed all the dry ingredients, kept mixing until dough was smooth, and it was perfect! I doubled the recipe and used a smaller ice cream scoop, which made about 3 dozen. I sprinkled sugar on cookies before baking, which gave them a nice, sweet crunch. This is my new go-to thumbprint cookie recipe!
A great recipe. Dough was dry so I added an extra egg yolk. Turned out perfectly. Thank you for the recipe. Will make them again.