Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
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Thumbprint cookies are at their most basic just shortbread cookies formed into spheres before they are impressed with thumbprints. They might first be rolled in something, and their filling might go in before baking if it is jam or after if it is something like buttercream which ought not to bake. The shortbread-based recipe doesn’t spread, rise, or color very much, so unfilled divots don’t puff back out very much.
Depending on the jam or other topping, consider rolling the dough balls in powdered sugar, cocoa, chopped nuts, sanding sugar or possibly cookie crumbs. We use sweetened almond flour which gives the cookies a delicately sandy finish. To get more to stick, or to get larger items to stick, some recipes call for rolling the dough balls in the egg whites (lightly beaten) in order to make them sticky. We just wanted a dusting, but this technique may be useful for those who wish to experiment with the recipe.
We are using homemade apricot jam, which was strained from apricot preserves. I used plenty of lemon juice to ensure that the finished jam is quite tart and will stand up to the enriched shortbread cookie. Baked properly, these cookies do not quite have the snap of real shortbread because for one thing they're filled, also they've been enriched with egg yolks and been softened somewhat by the addition of powdered sugar in the recipe.
Because the cookie is based on shortbread, it will not become a toasty color when done. It is therefore important to be familiar with your oven. If there is any doubt, use an oven thermometer to make sure that your oven is holding the temperature you expect.
If you want to freeze some cookies, roll and form them but do not fill them. Freeze them unfilled and then allow them to thaw in the fridge before filling and baking them. This is to ensure that the freezing/thawing process does not cause separated water from the jam to dissolve the top of the cookie before it can bake.
Makes roughly 40 cookies.
Equipment:
• stand mixer / large bowl and hand mixer / serious muscles
• parchment or silicon-lined pan for baking
• parchment or wax-paper lined pan for freezing unbaked cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/3 cup AP flour
1 cup butter 2 sticks, or half a pound; at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar contributes to chewiness; consider sifting
2 ea egg yolks the whites can be used to glue garnish to the doughballs
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
1/4 tsp salt maybe more if using Diamond Crystal
1/2 cup apricot jam or other tart jam, or citrus curd
For rolling:
1/4 cup almond flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Mix together the almond flour and sugar in a bowl suitable for swirling dough balls in order to coat them.
3. Cream the butter with the sugar. Scrape the bowl, to ensure nothing stalls wherever the beaters don’t reach.
4. Add the yolks, vanilla, and salt. Mix well and scrape down the bowl.
5. Add the flour and mix the dough until it becomes coherent. It may seem crumbly at first but just go a bit further.
6. Measure out dough balls by (measuring) tablespoons. They seemed small to me but in retrospect I think it would have been better not to make mine a bit generous.
7. Roll the dough balls in the almond flour / sugar mixture.
8. Make a central depression/thumbprint. I like using a wooden spoon handle.
9. If using jam, add use a half-teaspoon measure to dribble in the jam, and just let as much fall off as wants to.
10. Bake the cookies spaced an inch apart or more for 12-14 min at 350F. They are done when they are a bit brown on the bottom, but they will not show color on top.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
Check our our Patreon!
patreon.com/loveyourfood
Need a kitchen thermometer? Check out ChefsTemp! Use code LoveYourFood for 15% off a meat thermometer!
shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=2084649&u=3322095&m=111859&urllink=&afftrack=
Thumbprint cookies are at their most basic just shortbread cookies formed into spheres before they are impressed with thumbprints. They might first be rolled in something, and their filling might go in before baking if it is jam or after if it is something like buttercream which ought not to bake. The shortbread-based recipe doesn’t spread, rise, or color very much, so unfilled divots don’t puff back out very much.
Depending on the jam or other topping, consider rolling the dough balls in powdered sugar, cocoa, chopped nuts, sanding sugar or possibly cookie crumbs. We use sweetened almond flour which gives the cookies a delicately sandy finish. To get more to stick, or to get larger items to stick, some recipes call for rolling the dough balls in the egg whites (lightly beaten) in order to make them sticky. We just wanted a dusting, but this technique may be useful for those who wish to experiment with the recipe.
We are using homemade apricot jam, which was strained from apricot preserves. I used plenty of lemon juice to ensure that the finished jam is quite tart and will stand up to the enriched shortbread cookie. Baked properly, these cookies do not quite have the snap of real shortbread because for one thing they're filled, also they've been enriched with egg yolks and been softened somewhat by the addition of powdered sugar in the recipe.
Because the cookie is based on shortbread, it will not become a toasty color when done. It is therefore important to be familiar with your oven. If there is any doubt, use an oven thermometer to make sure that your oven is holding the temperature you expect.
If you want to freeze some cookies, roll and form them but do not fill them. Freeze them unfilled and then allow them to thaw in the fridge before filling and baking them. This is to ensure that the freezing/thawing process does not cause separated water from the jam to dissolve the top of the cookie before it can bake.
Makes roughly 40 cookies.
Equipment:
• stand mixer / large bowl and hand mixer / serious muscles
• parchment or silicon-lined pan for baking
• parchment or wax-paper lined pan for freezing unbaked cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/3 cup AP flour
1 cup butter 2 sticks, or half a pound; at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar contributes to chewiness; consider sifting
2 ea egg yolks the whites can be used to glue garnish to the doughballs
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
1/4 tsp salt maybe more if using Diamond Crystal
1/2 cup apricot jam or other tart jam, or citrus curd
For rolling:
1/4 cup almond flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Mix together the almond flour and sugar in a bowl suitable for swirling dough balls in order to coat them.
3. Cream the butter with the sugar. Scrape the bowl, to ensure nothing stalls wherever the beaters don’t reach.
4. Add the yolks, vanilla, and salt. Mix well and scrape down the bowl.
5. Add the flour and mix the dough until it becomes coherent. It may seem crumbly at first but just go a bit further.
6. Measure out dough balls by (measuring) tablespoons. They seemed small to me but in retrospect I think it would have been better not to make mine a bit generous.
7. Roll the dough balls in the almond flour / sugar mixture.
8. Make a central depression/thumbprint. I like using a wooden spoon handle.
9. If using jam, add use a half-teaspoon measure to dribble in the jam, and just let as much fall off as wants to.
10. Bake the cookies spaced an inch apart or more for 12-14 min at 350F. They are done when they are a bit brown on the bottom, but they will not show color on top.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
