A thumbprint cookie is timeless, always a hit, and most important, easy to make. This cookie recipe can be made in under an hour, including baking time. Most of the recipes I’ve posted are fairly labor and time intensive. While the result is visually appealing and delicious, sometimes you just don’t have the time. The key to the speed of this recipe is a food processor. While the recipe can be made without one, it will take longer. So be warned that the time estimate for this recipe is with a food processor. With the disclaimers out of the way, let’s jump in.
Recipe Notes
The recipe for thumbprint cookies originally called for self-raising flour. If you don’t have self-raising flour, you can make your own. By mixing flour with baking powder and salt, you can make your own self-raising flour. If you do have self-raising flour, just use 225 grams and omit the baking powder and salt.
Toss your dry ingredients in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix everything together. Next, add the butter slices and process until the butter is fully incorporated and the mixture looks like bread crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll have to rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips, which will take a while longer. Next, add the egg, milk, and vanilla mixture to the flour mixture. Process until a dough comes together. The dough shouldn’t be overly sticky. If it is, add a little more flour. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more milk. Once the dough is ready, divide into 16 equal pieces and roll each into a ball. Place the balls on a lined baking tray, leaving at least an inch and a half between the balls to allow for spreading while baking.
Thumbprint Cookie Assembly Notes
A thumbprint cookie can taste delicious but be less than visually appealing if not prepared correctly. If you’re just throwing a batch together to check the box for a bake sale, feel free to skip ahead. But if you want to show off a bit and take some pics so you can brag, here are a few tips. Make sure the dough is shaped into a ball as much as possible. This will help the cookie have a nice round shape when the indent for the jam is made. The cookies will spread a little bit during baking but not a ton. So, if the cookie is a little oblong, its probably going to bake that way. Place the balls of dough on two baking sheets lined with parchment.
Next, for consistent indents, use a measuring spoon, not your thumb. Is it sacrilegious to not use your thumb when making thumbprint cookies? Maybe, but it can be our little secret, especially since nobody reads anything other than the recipe on a food blog. I found that using a 1/2 teaspoon measurer works perfectly for making a nice round indent in the dough. Next, pick the jam you’d like to fill the indents with. A firm set jam won’t run during baking and will have more consistent results. I found raspberry jam worked well. But the homemade blueberry jam I had leftover from my wife’s birthday cake ran and made for some weird looking cookies. Place a marble sized amount of jam in each indent, taking care to not get any jam outside of the indent.
Baking Notes
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Bake the cookies for ten minutes and then drop the temperature down to 375 and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden. Take the cookies out of the oven and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar. If you have a thicker crystal sugar, use it here for a nice accent. Let the cookies cool on the tray for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack and let the cookies cool completely. Consume immediately and store any leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container.
Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor Optional
- 2 Baking sheets lined with parchment paper
Ingredients
- 210 grams AP flour
- 14 grams Baking powder
- 3 grams Salt
- 100 grams granulated sugar plus extra for sprinkling
- 125 grams Butter, chilled and diced 8 ¾ Tbsp
- 1 Egg, medium
- 1 Tbsp Milk
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- Raspberry Jam Any type will work, just needs to be a firm set jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Food Processor Instructions
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the food processor and pulse a few times to combine
- Add the diced butter and process until the mixture looks like sand and the butter is well incorporated.
- Mix the egg, milk, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl and pour into the food processor. Process until the mixture comes together into a dough. The mixture should hold together well and not stick to your hands. Add flour if too sticky and milk if too dry.
Hand Mixing instructions
- If making the mixture by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add the diced butter in and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is well incorporated and the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
- Beat the egg, vanilla extract and milk in a separate bowl and add to the flour and butter mixture.
- Using a butter knife, mix the ingredients together until a soft dough is formed. Add flour if the mixture is too sticky and milk if the mixture is too dry
Cookie Assembly
- Divide the dough into 16 pieces and shape each into a ball.
- Place each dough ball into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving around 1-½" between the balls to allow for spreading during baking.
- Flour your thumb and press into the middle of each ball to create an indent, don't press all the way through
- Place a marble sized amount of jam in the indent of each cookie
- Bake for ten minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 5 minutes until golden.
- Sprinkle sugar on top of the cookies and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tray before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
