These festive Jam Thumbprint Cookies are an easy way to brighten up your holiday cookie trays. A soft and chewy shortbread base is filled with your favorite jam to create these classic Christmas cookies.
With all the baking that takes place at this time of year, it’s important to have some really easy Christmas cookie recipes in your collection. These Jam Thumbprint Cookies are the perfect choice! They have a short ingredient list and it’s likely you have everything you need in your kitchen to bake a batch right now.
If you are gifting cookie trays this year, these jam thumbprints will add a bright and festive touch.
Table of contents
The fool-proof thumbprint cookie dough is a long time favorite of mine. It’s so easy to work with and requires no chilling before baking. It’s the same recipe I use for my Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies, just tweaked slightly for these pretty little cookies.
Ingredient Notes
- Wet ingredients: Softened butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and egg.
- Extracts: Pure vanilla extract and pure almond extract.
- Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour and salt.
- Assorted jams: I like to use a variety of flavors of seeded and seedless jam for a pretty color contrast. My favorites are raspberry, blackberry, and apricot.
- Optional icing: Confectioners’ sugar, milk, and additional almond or vanilla extract.
How to Make Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars until smooth, light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extracts.
- Beat for another minute, until well combined.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture all at once and beat for about 30 seconds, or until the dough resembles coarse crumbs.
- Finish by mixing it with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough. You can work it with your hands a little, if needed.
Tips for Forming Perfect Thumbprint Cookies
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (you should have about 28), and place them 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Use a small cookie scoop to easily create evenly sized cookies.
- To form the indentation, set a ball of dough on one hand and press gently into the center with the thumb on your other hand. I find that holding the dough in my hand helps keep the form a little better. If the dough cracks, you can work it with your fingers a little bit to smooth and reform it.
- Or, if you’re a thumbprint pro, just press your thumb into the dough on the cookie sheet.
Fill and Bake
- Fill each indentation with ½ teaspoon of jam.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Optional Thumbprint Cookie Icing
- Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, almond or pure vanilla extract, and 2 teaspoons milk. Add additional milk, in very small increments, to reach a sturdy but drizzling consistency.
- Use the tip of a small spoon to drizzle the icing over the completely cooled cookies.
For an easy decorating option, use a sugar dusting wand to dust the completely cooled cookies with a little confectioners’ sugar.
Storage Tips
Store completely cooled thumbprint cookies between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at room temperature. Cookies with icing might fare better if stored in a single layer. Cookies are at the best quality if consumed within 3 or 4 days.
Freezing Baked Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Place un-iced cookies on baking sheets lined with wax or parchment paper and freeze until firm. Transfer the frozen cookies to a freezer bag or other airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove them from their packaging and allow them to thaw in a single layer at room temperature. The cookies can then be dusted with powdered sugar or iced, if desired.
Freezing Thumbprint Cookie Dough
Once you form the balls of dough, place them on a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper and freeze until firm. Transfer them to a freezer bag or other airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, thaw the dough completely in the refrigerator. Once thawed, form the indentations, fill with jam, and bake as directed in the recipe.
More Christmas Cookies
- Mom’s Pecan Sandies
- Italian Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
- Melt in Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies
- Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies
- Butterscotch Gingerbread Cookies
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Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons assorted jams, ½ teaspoon per cookie
- 1 to 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, optional
For the Optional Glaze
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure almond or pure vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 teaspoons milk, or as much as needed for a sturdy but drizzling consistency
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars until smooth, light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts and mix for another minute.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture all at once and beat for about 30 seconds, or until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Finish by mixing it with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough. You can work it with your hands a little, if needed.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (you should have about 28), and place them 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Make an indention in the center of each cookie by gently pressing your thumb in the center. Fill each indentation with ½ teaspoon jam.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust the cooled cookies lightly with confectioners' sugar or drizzle with the optional glaze, if desired.
Optional Glaze
- Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, almond extract, and 2 teaspoons milk. Add additional milk, in very small increments, to reach a sturdy but drizzling consistency. Use the tip of a small spoon to drizzle over the completely cooled cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Christmas Treats
This is legitimately one of my favorite cookie recipes ever. In addition to being super tasty, the dough is versatile and very well-behaved. I use it for holiday cookies every year and recommend it whenever I see someone having trouble with their thumbprints!
These cookies spread out way too much when baked. It is a flat cookie topped by jam, not at all like the picture.
Hi Sara. There could be a variety of reasons why your dough spread. If the flour is not measured properly, the flour to butter ratio could be off and account for the spreading.If this hpappens again, you might try adding an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour. Some people find that refrigerating the dough can help, but I’ve never found it necessary with this recipe. So sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Would like to prepare the jam thumbprint dough, chill overnight and bake the next day. Will the cookies still be delicious after chilling the dough overnight?
Absolutely! Just let it sit out at room temperature until it’s soft enough to scoop. Enjoy!
I haven’t tried it yet but I LOVE thumbprint cookies with jam. The only problem I have is I can’t get the jam to stay in the cookie. It always melts out. Do you have any suggestions.
Hi Anna. I think if you try this recipe you’ll find this thumbprint dough holds its shape very well. I’ve never had this issue with this cookie dough. Hope you give it a try!