Amazing raspberry-filled and almond-flavored shortbread Thumbprint Cookies are irresistibly good and perfect for a holiday cookie platter! Plus, I’m sharing all my secrets to making these cookies the best — from what jam to use, to when to chill them, and rolling the cookies in sugar before baking.
If you’re assembling a cookie platter, you’ll want to make sure these thumbprint cookies are accompanied by these Snickerdoodle Cookies, these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, and these Peanut Butter Cookies.
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
A few months ago, I showcased a few recipes at a local department store’s grand opening. After brainstorming for a bit, I decided on these Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies, along with this Pistachio-Crusted Goat Cheese Ball. I worked on these cookies incessantly in the weeks leading up to the event to make sure they were perfect!
While we made plenty of the cheese ball – and it was quite a hit – we did not account for how excited people would get over these cookies. Within 10 minutes, all 300 hundred of these cookies were devoured. People kept coming back after hearing about them from others and were devastated to hear they’d missed them.
Needless to say, these really are the BEST Thumbprint Cookies. The raspberry and almond combo is unparalleled and is sure to be a huge hit at your next get-together.
These jelly Thumbprint Cookies are super easy to make! Read on for a quick process breakdown.
How To Make Thumbprint Cookies
- Start by beating room-temperature butter and sugar together. It’s very important the butter is at room temperature and not melted. Here’s why.
- Next, add in the baking extracts (SO much flavor!), cornstarch, and salt. The cornstarch is going to keep these cookies super soft.
- Finally, add in the flour. You want to make sure you don’t overmix once you add in the flour– that will result in dense cookies.
- Most shortbread recipes call for chilling next, but I’ve found it’s best to shape the cookies while the dough is easy to work with! Measure your cookie balls, roll in sugar (optional), form the indent in the center, and THEN they’re ready to chill!
- After the cookies are chilled, you can add in that jelly center and bake!
Read on for tips to make these cookies the very best.
Top TIPS for Thumbprint Cookies:
- Use the right kind of jam: The jam is the burst of flavor that sets these cookies apart. You can use any flavor of jam you’d like (strawberry, mixed berry, blueberry, peach, etc.). I like raspberry because it complements the almond flavor of the cookies. Once you have your jam, make sure it’s SEEDLESS jam to keep the focus on the delicious cookies and not those pesky seeds.
- Two kinds of extracts: Vanilla extract is usually a given for cookies, but these cookies also have almond extract. These two extracts combine to amplify the cookie’s flavor.
- Roll the dough in granulated sugar: Before chilling, I like to roll the cookies in sugar. Not only does it make these even prettier, but it also adds another element of flavor, sweetness, and improves the texture.
- Chilled dough: Chill the dough for a bit before baking; this allows all of the ingredients and flavors to meld. Just like marinating meat before you cook it makes it more flavorful, it’s the same with these cookies. It allows the flavors to combine and get more flavorful. For these cookies, I actually found shaping the cookies first and THEN chilling the shaped cookies worked best. While they’re soft and un-chilled, they shape a lot easier and crack a lot less than when the dough is cold. So shape, cover, and chill! Since we’re chilling them without the jam in them, I then also like to chill for another 10 minutes or so after filling these cookies with jam. You want the cookies very cold and firm before going into the oven.
- Thoroughly beat the butter and sugar: Butter gives these cookies body, texture, and flavor. By beating it with the sugars at the start, you’re fluffing the butter with air, and that gives these cookies that perfect foundation for a great texture. (Margarine won’t cut it for these!)
More Cookie Recipes:
- The BEST Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Toffee Pecan Chocolate-Chip Cookies
- Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
- Edible Cookie Dough
Thumbprint Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer optional
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
Cookies
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup + 1/3 cup granulated sugar divided
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract optional, see note 1
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour see note 2
- 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam or your favorite variety of jam
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream or 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract optional
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add room-temperature (not melted or softened at all) butter and 3/4 cup granulated sugar. Beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides as needed. Add almond extract (if using), vanilla, cornstarch, and salt. Mix until combined. Add flour. Beat together at low speed, scraping bowl as needed, until all ingredients are combined. Do not overmix dough.
- Shape dough into 1-tablespoon balls (use a tablespoon measuring spoon to form and measure balls), then roll dough balls in 1/3 cup granulated sugar until generously coated. Gently indent the center of each dough ball with your finger. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (or freeze for 30 minutes). Remove from fridge and preheat oven to 350°F. Add seedless jam to fill (but not overfill) the centers of all the cookies. Return cookies to the fridge 10 more minutes.
- Bake cookies 8–10 minutes or until very lightly browned underneath and tops are no longer glossy. Slightly underbake for soft and delicious shortbread cookies.
- Remove cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by whisking all glaze ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. (Add heavy cream or milk until you’ve reached your desired consistency; I like the glaze on the thicker side).
- Drizzle the glaze over the cookies (either drizzle with a spoon or transfer glaze to a resealable plastic bag and cut off the tip to pipe). Once added, allow glaze to set. Enjoy!
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My dough keeps coming out crumbly I had to add a drop of milk to get it to mix up . I measured so carefully the flour . I have made these before first time I am having this issue. Any advice?
So strange. Did you change anything else about the recipe?
These are my new favorite! Made a bunch for 2 weddings this fall. They froze great! Once cooled I froze the cookie for about 30 minutes then iced and put on a cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour. After everything was thoroughly frozen I pavkaked up and froze for about 3 months before the weddings. Thawed and they were just as delicious as when they were first baked!
Yay!! Thrilled to hear these were a hit!! Thanks so much for the comment and review 🙂
These look absolutely fab!
Delicious! Love thumbprints- so will have to give these a go! 🙂
These do look amazing!