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These Thumbprint Cookies are easy to make with a dollop of your favorite jam! They’re soft and chewy cookies made with just 7 ingredients. Perfect for your Christmas cookie tray!
These jam-filled cookies look so pretty, you won’t believe how easy they are to make. From holiday desserts to everyday snacking, they’re sure to be a hit with your family. The flavors are simple and classic, yet irresistible.
The cookie dough is really good at holding its shape, so you don’t have to worry about your cookies over-spreading. You can make these cookies with any kind of jam you like – the possibilities are endless! I love using apricot jam and raspberry jam for mine.
Thumbprint cookies get their name because the jam is placed on the cookies in a divot made from your thumb. Technically you don’t have to use your thumb – I use a measuring spoon – but that’s where the name comes from. Thumbprint cookies can also be made with icing or buttercream, but I like to keep them fruity with fresh jam in this classic version.
Recipe Ingredients
These cookies are made with staple pantry ingredients, so there’s no need to run out and grocery shop! Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Unsalted Butter: Bring your butter to room temperature before starting on your dough.
- Sugar
- Egg Yolks: You won’t be needing any egg whites for this recipe. The yolks contribute to a chewier cookie.
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Salt
- Jam: Use your choice of jam!
- Prepare for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Cream Butter & Sugar: Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add Egg Yolks: Add the egg yolks one at a time. Mix until well combined after adding each yolk.
- Add Vanilla Extract: Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add Flour & Salt: Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough is just well combined. Do not over-mix.
- Form Cookies: Create 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. Gently roll them into a ball, then roll them in additional sugar if desired. Set the balls on the baking sheet.
- Press: Use the end of a spatula, your thumb or the bottom of a measuring spoon to press the centers of the cookies down. Do this immediately after rolling them to help prevent the cookies from cracking.
- Add Jam: Fill the centers with jam. I used roughly 1/2 teaspoon per cookie.
- Bake: Bake your cookies for 10-13 minutes or until the edges JUST begin to brown. You don’t want to overbake them and end up with dry cookies.
- Let Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to finishing cooling.
- Use a Food Scale: For the best results, I always recommend using a food scale to measure your dry ingredients. Flour especially. This cookie dough is already fairly thick so that they don’t spread a crazy amount, so over-measuring your flour will very quickly lead to dry, firm cookies.
- Press Immediately: As soon as you form the cookie dough balls (and roll them in sugar, if you choose to do that step), press the centers down. As the cookie dough sits, the edges start to dry out, so waiting to press your cookies can lead to cracking.
- Use a Medium-Colored Baking Sheet: Try to use a medium-colored baking sheet for this recipe. Lighter colored baking sheets cause cookies to spread more, and darker baking sheets cause them to spread less and brown more on the bottom. A medium-colored sheet is just right!
- Avoid Chilling the Dough: There’s no need to refrigerate this cookie dough. You can if you’d like to, but I found that the cookies actually did more spreading after being refrigerated, so keep that in mind.
I recommend keeping these cookies in an airtight container or resealable bag. On the counter, they’ll last for about 3 days. If you store them in the fridge, they’ll stay good for up to a week. If you want to store them long-term, you can keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Watch How To Make Them
Print
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 30-35
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These cute little Thumbprint Cookies are easy to make with a dollop of your favorite jam! They’re soft, chewy, and made with just 7 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (104g) sugar (plus 3-4 tbsp for rolling)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups (260g) all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup jam, any flavor
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the egg yolks one at a time and mix until well combined after each.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough is just well combined. Do not over mix.
- Create 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. Gently roll into a ball, then roll in additional sugar (if using), then set the balls on the baking sheet.
- Use the end of a spatula, your thumb or the bottom of a measuring spoon to press the centers of the cookies down. Do this immediately after rolling them to help prevent the cookies from cracking.
- Fill the centers with jam. I used roughly 1/2 teaspoon per cookie.
- Bake cookies for 10-13 minutes or until the edges JUST begin to brown. You don’t want to overbake them and have dry cookies.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to finishing cooling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 91
- Sugar: 4.1 g
- Sodium: 18 mg
- Fat: 5.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.1 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 24.5 mg
Amazing recipe that was really easy to follow and was delicious! Made these and loved the perfectly soft cookie texture paired with the fruit jam!
So glad you enjoyed them!
I’ve wanted to make these forever. Can I use homemade fridge Jam or do I need store bought?
I would think homemade should be fine.
So easy and tender. I was pleased to find such a tasty sugar dough with no fridge time. I used homemade jams with different consistencies and all of them were great. If it is thick enough to stick to the spoom youll be fine.
So yummy!!! Question – how should I store these? Counter or fridge?
They are fine at room temperature.
I’m hosting a girlfriends Christmas on Saturday and we decided to each make cookies while we watch movies. However, to help with crowd control and hosting, if I make the dough an hour ahead of time and store it in the fridge, would it be okay? Or should I prep and bake right away?
You may only need to store in the fridge for about half an hour and then let it sit out to come back to room temperature so it’s easier to work with.
Any advice for dough that seems too sticky? Cookies ended up pretty flat – but tasted delicious!
Hmm, sounds like maybe a measurement was off a bit. Often flour is over measured, but you may have under measured it. I’d also make sure you used large eggs for the yolks and not extra large. I accidentally bought extra large eggs recently and didn’t notice immediately. 🙂 Glad they still tasted great!
I don’t see the measurements for the dry ingredients . Can you help me out please?
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (104g) sugar (plus 3-4 tbsp for rolling)
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (260g) all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup jam, any flavor
This recipe has become a favorite in our house. My family loves it.
My son asked for jam cookies. I made these cookies for him and he loves it. Now everyone loves it. It doesn’t last long in our house… And best of all, it’s so easy. Next on my list is the Sugar Cookies…….Thank you so much, all the way from Cape Town, South Africa
My family adores these! I had a real problem with the dough sticking to my hands while rolling the balls. Any tips for this?
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! As for rolling them, you could try putting a touch of flour on your hands when you roll them. I’ve also read before that wetting your hands a little bit can help.
Thank you. That’s very helpful!
So easy, so delicious! I’m looking forward to trying your other recipes, now, too!
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed them!
Perfect recipe. I used a size 40 ice cream scoop to make uniform sized cookies. Recipe made 24 cookies with that size scoop. I also flattened the dough ball slightly when placed on cookie sheet.
This is a delicious cookie recipe and I love that there is only 1/2 cup of sugar.
So glad you enjoyed them!
These are my go-to butter cookies. I have made them several times using strawberry, raspberry and also Nutella filling. Very easy to make and such a nice cookie that stays soft in Tupperware (for a few days until they are all gobbled up!) 😀
So glad to hear that!
My cookies turned out super crumbly (fell apart when touched after cooled) – do you have any thoughts on what might have gone wrong? I measured the flour using a scale and made sure the butter was room temperature. Thanks!
This may seem like a silly question, but are you sure you added the egg? That’s what binds everything together and for them to be that crumbly, it would seem there either wasn’t an egg or that far too much flour was added.
I haven’t made jam thumbprints for a long time and am so glad I tried these! They spread just the perfect amount, didn’t crack due to your tip about making the indentation as soon as they’re rolled and are absolutely delicious. I used sparkling sugar on some, sugar in the raw on others along with 2 types of jam, raspberry and apricot. They look like beautiful little jewels and will compliment my Christmas cookie tray nicely. Thank you for a wonderful recipe that I know I’ll be making year after year!! *****
That’s wonderful to hear!
Absolutely delicious and super easy! so hard to not eat all of them fresh from the oven!
So glad to hear that!
These cookies remind me of baking with grandma on Christmas Eve! They are delicious, buttery, melt in your mouth amazing!
Mine didn’t turn out picture perfect but they make up for that in flavor.
I baked them for about 15 minutes and they’re divine,,, I will definitely be making these again very soon cause I have a feeling they won’t last long.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Any tips on how to make them more uniform ? 🙂
Yumm!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe. 🙂