Thumbprint Cookies
This post contains affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
The BEST Thumbprint Cookies made with only 5 ingredients. Easy to make and SO delicious – these classic thumbprint cookies are a must try!
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies are my all time favorite cookie and for good reason!
- They’re made with only 5 ingredients
- They’re little and totally poppable (AKA… I usually eat at least 4 in one sitting!)
- They’re the perfect combo of buttery/sweet
- They’re SO easy to make!
My gram has been making these classic thumbprint cookies for as long as I can remember. They’re perfect for the holidays or really any time!
Fair warning: they will fly off your table! Let me show you how easy they are to make and why this is the best cookie recipe!
Ingredients for Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
These raspberry jam thumbprint cookies are made with only 5 ingredients. You’ll need:
- an egg yolk
- sugar
- softened salted butter
- all purpose flour
- jam of choice. We like seedless red raspberry jam but you can use strawberry too.
Substitutions:
We usually love to provide you with substitutions for our recipes – but sadly can’t provide many substitutions for this recipe. It only has 5 ingredients and is really intended to be made as is!
Chocolate Thumbprint Recipe: We haven’t tried making this recipe with chocolate in the center but I think it would would work. Typically those cookies are made with a chocolate ganache. Here’s a link to a chocolate thumbprint cookie recipe.
Jam: We make these cookies with Seedless Red Raspberry Jam. You can make them with any jam you like- Strawberry, Apricot, Blueberry or even Lemon Curd would all be delicious!
Rolling in sugar/crushed almonds – Some people make their thumbprint cookies like this – but we have never done that. I think it would work with this recipe, but it’s also unnecessary.
They’re perfect without sugar or almonds 🙂
Butter: We always use salted butter when baking. You can sub unsalted butter but it won’t be as tasty.
Gluten Free: We haven’t tried making these gluten free, but I think it might work with 1:1 flour. If you try it, let us know.
Butter/Sugar – We can’t offer substitutions for butter or sugar in this recipe. I don’t recommend swapping with any ingredients.
Low Carb: These Keto Linzer Cookies are a delicious option if you want a jam based cookie.
How to make Classic Thumbprint Cookies
It’s so easy to make classic thumbprint cookies!
- In a bowl combine softened butter, sugar, and egg yolk. Gradually add flour until a thick dough consistency forms. You can chill your dough for an hour to prevent the cookies from spreading, or you can go right to rolling them.
- Form dough into ½ tablespoon balls. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet or nonstick sheet.
- Make an indent in the center with your thumb and fill with jam.
- Bake in a preheated 350° oven until light brown for 10-12 minutes.
Tips for the best Thumbprint Cookies:
These cookies are pretty easy to make but here are a few tips for you!
Indents: Be GENTLE when pressing into the cookies to prevent them from cracking. Use your thumb, or if you want more uniform indents use the back of a teaspoon or the bottom handle of a wooden spoon to get perfect indents.
Prevent Cookies from Spreading/Cracking: We recommend chilling your dough for one hour to prevent the cookies from spreading and cracking. If the cookies crack when you make your indents, just gently fix them.
Fixing your cookies: This dough is pretty pliable. If your cookies start to crack, just fix them gently before baking. If you spill jam on the side, just wipe it away with a napkin before baking!
Measure your ingredients correctly – It is super important to measure your ingredients correctly, specifically the flour! Check out this tutorial on how to measure flour correctly.
Watch when baking! These go from perfectly golden brown to burnt quickly!
Heat the jam: Heating the jam for 10 seconds in the microwave makes it easier to handle.
Thumbprint Cookie FAQ:
Have questions about thumbprint cookies? We’ve got answers!
Why did my thumbprint cookies spread? Your cookies may have spread because of the temperature of the butter. Fat makes baked goods spread. Try putting your dough in the refrigerator for an hour before baking/rolling to avoid cookies spreading.
Do you bake the cookies with the jam in them? Yes! The jam bakes into the cookie and sets really nicely!
Can you make the dough ahead of time? Yes, you can make the dough and keep it ahead of time for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Storing Thumbprint Cookies:
We recommend storing these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
How long can you keep thumbprint cookies? Up to 2 weeks if stored correctly. These cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks (if you don’t eat them all before then!)
Can you freeze thumbprint cookies? Yes, you can! Freeze in an airtight container or ziploc bag for up to 3 months for maximum freshness.
Do cookies with jam need to be refrigerated? These cookies only have a tiny bit of jam so they do not need to be refrigerated. Sandwich cookies or cookies with a lot of jam should be kept in the refrigerator, but thumbprint cookies are fine to stay at room temp.
Other delicious Christmas dessert Recipes:
These are some of our favorite Christmas Cookie recipes! You can check out our Healthy Christmas Recipes for other ideas!
Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup salted butter softened (1 ½ sticks)
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup jam of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and prepare a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer and large bowl, cream the butter on High speed for about 1 minute. Add the sugar and egg yolk, then mix again to combine for 1 minute.
- Scrape down the insides of the bowl. Add the flour and mix on low speed to incorporate.
- Optional, but recommended: Chill the dough for an hour to prevent the cookies from spreading.
- Portion dough into ½ tablespoon balls.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. The cookies do spread a bit, so leave room.
- Make an indent in the center of the dough with your thumb OR grease the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon with cooking spray and use that to make your idents.
- Fill the cookies with jam. I recommend adding jam to a ziploc bag, cutting a very tiny hole in the corner and piping the jam into the ident of the cookies. You can use a spoon, but the bag method is easier.
- Bake the cookies at 350 for 9-11 minutes, or until the shortbread is light golden brown.
- Remove raspberry thumbprints from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
These are delicious! I thought would freeze some but they were all gone. lol
I made them for Christmas but will be making more tomorrow. Thank you for this easy yummy recipe.
My dough was very crumbly and would not come together. Like there was not enough liquid. My egg yolk was pretty small. Is this recipe for a large egg ? I added a tablespoon of water and it helped bring it together.
We just use normal eggs, not large. Are you sure you used the right amount of butter? We just made these a couple of days ago (I make them every year!) with no issues! Did you make any other substitutions?
These are delicious and I make them every year for Christmas. I think I started making these from their recipe about 4 years ago and it’s a winner every year. I make them with strawberry, peach, raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry jam.
So easy to make. My daughter and I made them together but I think this would be something she could learn to do on her own. We’ll be adding this to our go to cookie list for sure.
So glad you liked them, Wendy!
The dough was nice and tasted good, but baking was a failure. They spread and lost their shape no matter how I cooked them (pre-shaped and chilled, pre-shaped and frozen, lowering the temperature to 325, using parchment paper instead of Silpat). And yes, I measured everything correctly. Still looking for a thumbprint recipe that will work for me! 🙁
I’m really sorry to hear this. I’ve made these cookies every year and never had this issue. What kind of butter did you use and are you sure it was just slightly softened, not melted at all? Sounds like that could’ve been the issue.
I’m a baker for firefighters, this is a huge hit always. Easy 5 stars.
Can you freeze these?
Yes! This is covered in the storage section. It says Yes, you can! Freeze in an airtight container or ziploc bag for up to 3 months for maximum freshness.
Delicious!!!! 😋😋😋
This too is going in my book of favorites 👍🏻
Only problem I tend to always have with thumbprint cookies, is I tend to go too deep with my indent, and the jelly runs through the bottom. And tips on solving this dilemma would be great 😌
I love this cookie. It’s a very delicate dough, but oh so worth the effort!
Best tip was microwave the preserves before adding to the cookie. This made it so easy.
Thank you for all of the wonderful recipe tips.
These are some of the most delicious cookies I’ve ever had!! I was going to set some aside for tea but they didn’t even make it off of the cooling rack before they were all gone! Everyone loved them, my daughter thinks they taste similar to a pop tart in cookie form. Easy recipe and ingredients that usually are on hand I love that. Will make again.