These thumbprint cookies are the ultimate holiday treat! Filled with vibrant pools of apricot and raspberry jam, they're melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
These jam thumbprint cookies are some of the first holiday cookies I bake every year. They’re absolutely delicious, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture and warm, buttery flavor. The vibrant jam filling adds a pop of brightness to each one—and it makes them look so pretty too.
As an added bonus, this thumbprint cookie recipe is super easy to make. It calls for just 8 ingredients, and there’s a good chance you have all of them on hand already. Go ahead, bake yourself a batch! I hope you love these thumbprint cookies as much as I do.
Thumbprint Cookies Ingredients
This thumbprint cookie recipe starts with 8 basic ingredients:
- All-purpose flour and almond flour – This combination makes the cookies extra-rich and tender.
- Butter – It adds rich, buttery flavor and gives the cookies a yummy crumbly texture.
- Sugar – For sweetness.
- Vanilla and almond extract – They fill the cookies with warm flavor.
- Jam – Choose your favorite flavor of fruit jam, or use a mix. I love to make my thumbprint cookies with apricot and raspberry jam. Strawberry jam has been a reader favorite. I think homemade lemon curd would be lovely too!
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Why no egg? Many readers have wondered why I don’t call for an egg in this recipe. The cookie base has the same tender texture as shortbread, which is traditionally made without eggs. When the butter is well creamed, it doesn’t need an egg to bind it together.
That said, if you prefer to use an egg in this recipe, several readers have successfully added an egg yolk to the wet ingredients.
How to Make Thumbprint Cookies
This thumbprint cookie recipe has 3 simple steps:
1. Make the cookie dough. Start by whisking together the flours and salt in a medium bowl. Then, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the vanilla, almond extract, butter, and sugar until fluffy. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
2. Shape the cookies. Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop rounded tablespoons of the dough, and roll them into balls. Place the balls on two large baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Make an indentation in the middle of each cookie, then spoon in 1/2 teaspoon jam.
3. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in a 350°F oven until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly golden brown.
They’ll be fragile when they come out of the oven, so let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Best Thumbprint Cookies Tips
- Spoon and level your flour. In order for these cookies to have the perfect tender texture, it’s important to measure your flour accurately. For the best results, use the spoon and level method: gently spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. If you scoop it up directly with your measuring cup, you might accidentally use too much, resulting in crumbly cookies.
- Make the indentations with a measuring spoon. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I press these cookies down with my thumb, I end up with funky-looking indentations. In order to get even indentations that can hold a good amount of jam, I press them down with the back of a 1-teaspoon measuring spoon instead. It creates a round, wide cavity for the jam, making for prettier, evenly filled cookies.
- Measure the cookie dough and jam filling. There’s nothing sadder than thumbprint cookies with a tiny smidgen of jam inside! For the ideal jam to cookie ratio, make sure to keep these cookies on the small side, just using a rounded tablespoon of dough for each one. Then, fill them with 1/2 teaspoon jam. You’ll end up with the perfect amount of jam in every bite.
How to Store
These jam thumbprint cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
They also freeze well. Seal them in an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Let frozen cookies sit at room temperature for about 1 hour to thaw.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these thumbprint cookies, try one of these yummy cookie recipes next:
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
- Or any of these 21 Best Christmas Cookie Recipes!
Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour,
- 1 cup almond flour,
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup raspberry and/or apricot jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract until fluffy. Gradually add the flour and mix until combined.
- Scoop rounded tablespoons of the dough, roll into balls, and place on the prepared baking sheets. Gently press down to form disks and use your thumb, or the back of a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon, to make an indentation in the middle of the cookies. Spoon ½ teaspoon of jam onto each cookie.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Maybe I’m just still tired. lol but I cannot find the ratio of the almond flour and regular flour… haha Can you help me please? Thank you!
Hi Ira, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the post, there’s a recipe card with all of the measurements. Hope that helps!
Can I use Lemon Curd instead of jam for this recipe?
Hi Hannah, I think that would work fine.
Has anyone used olive oil versus butter?
Hi Claudia, we haven’t tested olive oil here. I’m not sure how it would work!
Made these tonight and loved them! I used cashew flour instead of almond flour and maple extract instead of almond extract because it’s what I had and they were delicious. Definitely making again
Sounds delicious! So glad you loved the cookies.
Have you ever tried this cookie recipe with a chocolate kiss added at the end of baking instead of jam. My son wants the “kiss cookies” but doesn’t want peanut butter so I’m looking for a good alternative.
Hi Laura, we haven’t tried this, but it might work fine! If you do that, I’d skip making the indentations in the cookies and just roll the dough into balls. Gently press the kisses into the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven, like we do in this peanut butter blossoms recipe. Let us know how this goes!
Worked perfectly!
Can vegan butter be used in the thumbprint cookie recipe?
Hi Sheila, We haven’t tried this, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would be fine! Because vegan butter is usually salted, I’d reduce the salt in the cookies to 1/4 teaspoon.
Thoughts on making this dough a day or two ahead of time before cooking? Think that would work? Thanks–looks like a great recipe!
Hi Trish, we haven’t tried this, so I can’t guarantee the results, but I think it would work fine! Keep it tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. Hope you enjoy!
Can I use this recipe using thumbprints stamp cookie
I really like the look of these cookies and the recipe, but I’m a bit surprised by the absence of at least one egg?
Hi Joe, yes, there’s no egg, it’s not necessary here.
hi there
I like to know if there is any substitute for almond flour?
because I couldn’t get any from the store
thanks❤
Just made this recipie and I loved the cookies. Thank you. Simple and delicious
These came out great. I’m gluten intolerant so I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour and was not disappointed. To me, they have a shortbread taste and texture, which I love. They also freeze well. Will be using this recipe from now on for my thumbprint cookies!
I’m so glad you loved them and I’m happy to hear they worked so well with Bob’s flour!
OMG these are amazing. I just baked them now. I have celiac so I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour along with the almond flour. Super easy and super delicious!
Hi Linda, I’m glad you loved them and I’m so happy to hear that they worked with the 1:1 flour!
These were great! Very shortbread-like and they go great with a cup of tea. Will definitely be making these again. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
I’m so glad you loved them!
They are DELICIOUS and so easy to make. I also don’t use my thumb, but use my index finger’s knucles. The jelly space comes out perfect 🙂
I’m so glad you loved them!
These were absolutely delicious and beautiful. Though, mind got extremely hard over night…any recommendations?
I think they might have baked too long if they got hard overnight. I’d try baking them a minute or two less.
Made these today to give to our neighbors for Christmas. Delicious, not too sweet, great texture, pretty enough to gift. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Great way to use some of my almond flour, which I store in the freezer for when the need arises. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Do we have to use almond flour ? Especially if we don’t have any on hand ? Thanks
Yep, the texture of the dough won’t be the same without it.
Do these freeze well? I would like to make them for Christmas:)
Super easy recipe and delightful, tasty cookies. I used 2 fruit jams (blackberry and strawberry), orange marmalade, and apple butter to make a variety. Taking them to a breakfast gathering in the morning. Doubt there will be any left by tomorrow afternoon.
I’m so glad you loved them!