Classic Thumbprint Cookies
I have been on a serious manhunt for my “go-to” thumbprint cookie recipe. I’ve tried nearly a half-dozen recipes over the last month and just hadn’t found the one. Thumbprints are a cookie that I remember seeing on countless cookie trays around the holidays growing up. The ones filled with strawberry jam and rolled in nuts were always my favorite. I wanted a thumbprint that was buttery soft and a perfect ratio of dough and jam filling. Most of the recipes that I tried were too much like buttery shortbread that, while delicious, were too crumbly when you bit into them. I finally swapped out half of the butter for shortening and used only brown sugar instead of white sugar, and I ended up with exactly what I had hoped for when I began my thumbprint quest. I now have a huge batch of them in my freezer, ready for Christmas cookie trays!
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You can customize these cookies in a number of different ways to suit your tastes. Instead of rolling the cookies in sugar, you can dip them in some beaten egg whites, then roll them in chopped nuts or shredded coconut. The filling is totally up to you – I did a mixture of blackberry jam, strawberry jam, and apricot preserves. Surprisingly, my favorite is the apricot! You could also do chocolate, caramel, dulce de leche… there are tons of possibilities!
I’m thrilled to have come up with a favorite thumbprint recipe; it’s one that will be part of my holiday baking for years to come.
One year ago: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Two years ago: Sticky Toffee Pudding and Nutter Butter Snowmen
Three years ago: Fig and Walnut Biscotti
Four years ago: Nut Crescents
Classic Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (102.5 g) vegetable shortening
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (340 g) your favorite jam, jelly or preserve
- Granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- Cream together the butter, shortening and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes or until fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add the egg yolks, milk, vanilla and salt, and beat until well combined. Reduce the mixture speed to low and gradually add the flour, mixing until well blended.
- Measure about 2 teaspoons dough for each cookie and roll into balls. Place the granulated sugar in a small bowl and roll the balls of dough in the sugar to coat. Using the back of a teaspoon or your thumb, make a deep rounded indentation in the top of each cookie.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven. (At this point there was a little bit of melted butter underneath the cookies, but when they finished cooking it was all absorbed, and they were perfect!) It may be necessary to create the indentation once again with a spoon. Place about 1 teaspoon jam, jelly or preserves into the indentation of each cookie. Bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 1 month.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I just made these from my own blackberry plants but having hard time don’t know how to share facebook with pics I clicked your facebook but could not do pic
I usually don’t follow a recipe exactly, but these are perfect as described. I used blackberry jam, and thy were amazing.
How do you recommend freezing them? (ie wax paper in between, etc).
Should they be thawed covered in the same container or placed frozen on the cookie tray to thaw?
I’ve been using your recipe for thumbprint cookies for several years now. Definitely the best!
Oh Wow!! Love this…looking so amazing.. Thanks for sharing.
I really enjoy the post…… Thanks for sharing…Awesome.
Really Perfect Look..
Wow. Very interesting…
I’ve made these cookies twice, and both times the cookies have been really brittle and fall apart easily. Would it be better to use cold butter?
Hi Lily, I think cold flour would make them even more flaky (think pie crust).
We have made this recipe the last couple of years and we love them. This year we tried 2 new jams, a Rasberry Merlot Balsamic jam and a Blueberry Chardonnay Balsamic jam from the Olive Cart store in St. Joesph, MI. You can buy the jams from their website. These jams made this recipe out of this world!
Hi! I want to know if you freezed the cookies already baked or just the dough. Thank you!
Hi Laura, I’ve done both, it works either way!
I just baked these cookies. Followed the recipe exactly to the final detail, except I added lemon zest instead of vanilla extract. IT IS WONDERFUL. Cookies are delicious. Not too buttery, soft and at the same time with some crunchiness. Really good.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. Well done.
Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
Hi Nina, I wouldn’t recommend that, as the cookies may end up quite crumbly.
Hello! I have been following your website for a while and have tried many recipes! Like the funfetti cupcakes, banana muffins, the pumpkin roll cake, even the red velvet roll (but for some reason that one cracked and fell apart like crazy and I don’t know why :( ).
I tried these cookies because it looks like the flavor combinations are endless! I do have a question because mine turned out differently even though I used fairly close to the exact ingredients, even the shortening. I used crisco’s vegetable shortening specifically. I also used golden brown sugar (I suppose that is light brown sugar), and my milk was 2% fat milk. I did indeed wait for my butter to be room temperature and smooth while being beaten and mixed.
So what happened was, my cookie dough seemed a bit.. dry? The rolled balls felt greasy enough in my hands, but when it came to making the indentations in the center, as I pressed them down, the cookies CRACKED :( !!! I mean, I guess they look like flowers with petals being the cracked portions, but they lost the smooth circular aesthetic that is in the photos of your cookies. Any idea what may have been the problem? I am still a novice at baking so willing to take any advice! I will say the cookies still tasted great anyways, they just um… didn’t look like I expected!
Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the recipe. I’ve made them four times, just all butter and I like the texture.
I love this recipe!!! I did not use the shortening and uses cold pressed coconut oil instead. They turned out light and crisp!!!!
I have made these cookies three times in the past month using all butter once and twice using half butter and half butter flavored Crisco. Each time the cookies came out delicious. I’m making them for Easter and to give as treats for for some elderly shut ins. I’ve made them with strawberry, blackberry, black cherry, and apricot filling. The children all prefer the strawberry but will “force” themselves to eat the others. I’m thinking about melting some whipped chocolate frosting to make a sort of ganash for the filling. I have used hershey’s kisses in my peanut butter cookies inserting the chocolate before baking and those were great. The kisses just had a cote little droop on it when finished. I think the kisses would be a little too hard for the cookie and they might crumble when bitten. That’s why i’m trying the melted fudge frosting. I just hope it’s not too sweet. Being a shut in myself I cant run on doew to the store for chocolate so i’ve got to use what I’ve got.
*cute not cote lol
It just so happens I’m out of butter D: could I use all shortening? Or oil or applesauce in place of the butter?
Hi Amy, You could use all shortening, it will just make the cookies a tad bit softer/chewier (which I personally love). I would not do oil or applesauce, though.
So I ended up using 1/2 c of coconut oil and 5T of applesauce. The cookies were moist and soft and delicious!
These look delicious, and I love how flavorsome they are! Thanks for sharing!
I baked 2 batches of these yesterday with wild cherry jam. Yum! They are wonderful! This is a keeper. Thank you for the recipe.
Long time follower, first time commenter.;-) I really like the idea of a half-butter half-shortening thumbprint cookie as I have the same issues as you do with regular thumbprint cookies. Do you think I could substitute butter-flavored shortening for regular shortening? For some reason, I have a bunch of it and no regular. I would imagine the texture would be the same but I worry about the flavor. Thanks.
Hi Jen, I think the butter-flavored shortening would work okay. Enjoy!
Thanks! It did work just great. I really love the texture of the cookies!
Baked a batch of these about 2 hours ago. This is the best thumbprint recipe-the cookie is so light and buttery. I used apricot-pineapple jam and raspberry-cranberry jam-both from Smuckers.
I was trolling the internet, looking for something to do with caramel on the family baking day, when i came across this – my favorite baking website, the person who pretty much taught me how to make caramel, adding a recipe ON MY BIRTHDAY?!?!?! Obviously a sign! I will be making these cookies shortly. Thank you! – Another Brown Eyed Baker
Just made these and they are wonderful!! My grandmother use to make these when I was growing up, and could not find her recipe, these are actually better. I did not have apricot jelly, so used blackberry and also pineapple…yummy
I don’t think I’ve ever had a thumbprint cookie, but now I can’t wait to try them! Thanks for your hard work perfecting the recipe!
HI, so excited to try this recipe. I run out of shortening, so can I used whole unsalted butter? Thanks
Hi Fen, As I mentioned in the write up, I wasn’t really thrilled with all-butter versions of this cookie, but if you have no other options, you can do it. Just know that they may come out more of a shortbread than soft cookie.
These look amazing! I am excited to get baking! So how did you freeze these? Did you make them completely them freeze or did you just freeze the dough?
Thanks bunches! Love your blog!
Hi Deb, I baked them, cooled them, and then froze them in a tupperware-style container with wax paper between the layers.
Instead of a spoon to make the indentation, try using another tool you may have in your drawer such as the pestle (from a mortar & pestle set). Anything with a rounded end would work.
I used the small side of my tart tamper.
We make these in my family too and they were always one of my favorites. We call them Betty’s Butter cookies because we got the recipe from our next door neighbor Betty.
Thank you for posting this! I have memories of my mom making thumbprint cookies when I was growing up. She made them with red currant jelly and rolled them in finely chopped nuts. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find her recipe. I have tried several others, but they just weren’t the right ones. I can’t wait to try yours. They look delicious!