Jam Thumbprint Cookies are delicious little almond shortbread cookies showered in powdered sugar and filled with jewel toned jam that melt in your mouth. What could be more tempting? Bring these to the office party, or serve them after the holiday dinner, they’re always popular.
What makes these jam thumbprints special?
- Firstly it’s the dough: it’s got a portion of almond flour which makes the cookies soft and delicate. I find that some thumbprint cookies can be tough and uninteresting, but these cookies taste wonderful even without their filling.
- Next, they’ve been coated with powdered sugar, which makes them extra sweet and extra festive.
- Lastly, I’ve specifically chosen premium jams (even used my homemade mulled cranberry jelly) which gives the cookies a gourmet flavor.
Recommended jam fillings for thumbprint cookies
- Above all I recommend a thick, tart jam with lots of fruity flavor, not one that is overly sweet.
- Right now I’m loving Bon Maman and Stonewall Kitchen. Both have bright vivid flavors, and both have vibrant, inventive flavors.
- Bon Maman has a new line of ‘Intense’ flavored jams which are fantastic and perfect for bringing a bright pop of flavor to these cookies.
- I used peach preserves, black raspberry jam, tangerine marmalade, wild Maine blueberry jam, lemon curd, ‘intense’ cherry jam, fig jam, & my own mulled cranberry jelly.
- Use any jam (or jelly) you love, homemade or store bought, but be sure it’s got relatively thick consistency so it doesn’t ooze all over your cookies. I love to mix and match, and the jewel box effect is charming on a platter.
The jam filling in these cookies isn’t baked, and that means the flavor stays nice and bright.
These cookies aren’t for shipping, because the jam won’t have hardened, but they’re perfect for setting out on a dessert table, or serving at the end of a meal with coffee. If you need something to bring to a holiday party, they’d be wonderful. Just don’t plan on stacking them because of their soft centers.
How long will jam thumbprint cookies last?
The cookies will last at room temperature about 3 days.
Freezing thumbprint cookies
Freeze the cookies baked, or unbaked. If freezing baked cookies, dust with sugar and fill after thawing.
Do you have your holiday cookie assortment all planned out yet? If not, here are some of my favorites ~
- Chocolate Dipped Churro Shortbread Cookies
- New Fallen Snow Cookies
- Chocolate Gingerbread Stamped Cookies
- Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Jam Thumbprint Cookies are delicious almond shortbread cookies filled with jewel toned jam that melt in your mouth. This classic holiday cookie is fabulous!
Servings: 4 dozen
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract (use vanilla if you prefer)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup extra fine almond flour
- 1 tsp salt
filling
- assorted jams and jellies
coating
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter with both sugars and the extract until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
- Whisk together the flour, almond flour, and salt, and then add gradually to the bowl, with the mixer on low. Blend just until the dough comes together.
- Scoop out the dough with a 1 1/8 inch cookie scoop, and roll into smooth balls. Place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Make a small indent into each ball using your little finger or a round 1/4 teaspoon. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, until set but still pale. Just after you remove the cookies from the oven re-do the thumbprint indentations, because they will have puffed up during baking.
- Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then toss the cookies in powdered sugar to coat on all sides.
- When you are ready to serve, dust the cookies one more time with another coat of powdered sugar, and then fill each indentation with a small amount of jam.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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I tried this recipe for thumb print cookies and couldn’t get the dough to stay together. I noticed there are no eggs in the recipe… not sure if that is the reason or not. Any advice you could share would be great. Thank you
This is more of a shortbread type dough, without egg. The key to getting the dough to come together is to make sure your butter is at room temperature, and work the butter thoroughly into your dry ingredients. The moisture is coming from the butter so it can take a minute or two longer to come together than other types of cookie dough. If you are ever stuck with dough that is not coming together no matter what, always feel free to add a drop or two of milk.
Hi Sue, I love your recipes and have made many. Question: Can I put the jam in after the cookies have been sprinkled with the powdered sugar so they’re ready to put on a platter for when guests arrive? Any reason they have to be done right before service? Thanks and happy holidays to you and your family.
Yes, you can, but be sure you’ve got at least 2 coats of sugar on the cookies so the sugar doesn’t absorb into them. Happy holidays to you and yours, too Suzie!