How to Make Thumbprint Cookies With Jam Filling
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Dec 18, 2022 • 2 min read
Learn how to make thumbprint cookies, a popular holiday treat made with your favorite jam.
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What Are Thumbprint Cookies?
Thumbprint cookies are cookies with an indentation in the center filled with jam or chocolate. You can turn various types of cookies into thumbprint cookies, but they're often made with a buttery, crumbly shortbread cookie dough. Common additions to the dough include chopped nuts and shredded coconut. When made with jam, thumbprint cookies’ bright colors make for a favorite holiday cookie.
Origins of the Thumbprint Cookie
American thumbprint cookies may have been inspired by hallongrotta (raspberry cave), a Swedish cookie made in the same manner that features a raspberry jam filling. Hallongrotta cookies have been served with coffee and tea in Sweden since the nineteenth century and are a popular Christmas cookie in the United States.
How to Make Thumbprint Cookies
Thumbprint cookies are simple to make at home. Follow these steps to make homemade thumbprint cookies:
- 1. Make the dough. You can turn almost any cookie recipe into a thumbprint—peanut butter cookies and coconut macarons are fun options. Still, one of the most delicious versions uses a crumbly, nut-studded shortbread.
- 2. Make a thumbprint. For perfect indentations, press your thumb into the cookies halfway through baking. You can indent the cookies before baking to protect your fingers from the heat, but be aware that the cookies will spread during baking.
- 3. Choose your filling. You can fill the cookies with your favorite jam or another yummy spread before baking or halfway through baking. Avoid using jelly, which tends to melt and spread.
Classic Jam Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
makes
24 cookiesprep time
30 mintotal time
45 mincook time
15 minIngredients
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2
Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- 3
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together nuts and about one-third of the flour until the nuts are finely ground.
- 4
Add the remaining flour, sugar, and salt, and pulse until combined.
- 5
Add the butter cubes, and pulse until mostly combined.
- 6
Add the egg yolk and vanilla and pulse until the dough just comes together.
- 7
Roll the dough into 2-inch balls and arrange ½-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- 8
Bake cookies for 6 minutes, then remove from the oven and use your thumb to press a small indentation into the center of each cookie.
- 9
Fill each indentation with about a teaspoon of jam and return to the oven.
- 10
Continue baking until cookies are golden brown, about 6–8 minutes longer.
- 11
Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.
- 12
Dust the cookies with powdered sugar, if desired.
- 13
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
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