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.
The wet ingredients weren’t “wet enough” and would’ve been impossible to mix all that flour into the butter and small amounts of extracts. I added an egg and it turned out pretty good
I made these cookies for my coworkers this week and half of the office asked for the recipe. Very easily a hit!!
Any suggestions for a gluten-free version?
I was suspicious when there was no egg at all in this recipe. Every cookie spread and they all fell apart. Followed the steps exactly.
Can dough balls be frozen before using thimble.?
Hi Sandi, we haven’t tried this, but I think it would work! You’ll just need to let them thaw enough to make the indentations and add the jam before baking.
its sounds great will try it
The most popular cookie I ever brought to a pot luck!
It was 4th of July and I used strawberry jam (fresh made from garden) and topped with Borage flowers when they came out of oven- red white and blue cookies!
Hi Beatrice, they sound amazing! I’m so glad you loved the recipe.
Just made these gluten free. Used 1 ½ C Almond flour and 1 ½ C King Arthur GF Measure for Measure. Added one egg yolk as a binder. Perfect. Filled with homemade cherry, berry filling made from cooked dried berries. Chilled before baking. Drizzled with melted white chocolate when cool.
thank you for the GF tips!
What can I use instead of almond flour? I don’t like the taste and I don’t have it. Would rice flour work?
in germany they used crushed hazelnuts and it is delicious!
The recipe I remember as a kid (sans the almond flour, which I think is a great addition). I did not find the dough to be dry, but I did a few things that are not expressly mentioned in the recipe. Make sure you really cream the butter and sugar. I don’t do it by time… I do it by the look and taste of it. For me, it took a little longer than what is in the recipe. Fully incorporate the dry ingredients. This took also longer than the recipe says. My mixer definitely got a work out! And I set it on my porch for about an hour before I used it (you can use your frig). This made it a little easier to roll into balls. Get creative with the fillings! I used fig jam, jellied cranberry sauce, pear preserves and strawberry jam this time. Other times I’ve used lemon curd or the cherries out of canned pie filling. Yum!
Excellent! Made as directed with minor substitutions….Used vegan Miyoko butter and gluten free flour. I was a bit concerned using the gluten free flour as it can be a bit tricky at times but the dough worked up well…..I think that almond flour makes a big difference (which is what attracted me to this recipe). Cookies were very tender, flavorful, easy to make…..definitely a keeper!
Hi Carol, thanks for letting us know that they worked with these substitutions!
For me also, the crumbly dough was very frustrating.
Ialso found the dough crumbly and yes I used the exact measuring method as specified
I followed the recipe as-is (except I left out the almond extract which I did not have on hand) and the dough came out crumbly and dry. I had to really smush it together in my hands to form the dough balls. Would chilling the dough help?
Hi Sam, you could add a bit of water to help the dough come together. Did you use the spoon and level method while measuring your flour? It’s possible too much flour was packed in your measuring cup: https://fit-discovery.info/how-to-measure-flour/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
I thought the dough was crumbly and difficult to work with, but they tasted good!
I Adella, did you use the spoon and level method for measuring the flour? https://fit-discovery.info/how-to-measure-flour/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EIf it happens next time, try adding just a bit of water until it’s easier to work with.
Can you use almond meal instead of flour?
I did! My dough was a bit crumbly but they still came out pretty well intact and tasted great!
I don’t have almond flour so I took some oatmeal and blitzed it in the grinder to make substitute flour. It worked nicely, still good flavor and texture. Thanks for this recipe.
Delicious little cookie!
I used Country Crock plant based butter to make them vegan and I loved them!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Do they need to be refrigerated after baking?
Hi Susan, you can store these cookies in an airtight container at room temp.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this recipe and happy thanksgiving!
Do you think it’s safe to use thumbprint cookie molds on this one (I got them from William Sonoma)?
Thank you
that should be fine!