Easy recipe for Soft Jam Thumbprint Cookies perfect for the holidays! Buttery cookies with great flavor, filled with your favorite sweet jam. Perfect for Christmas cookie exchanges!
These lovely Jam Thumbprint cookies are soft, buttery and are a great addition to your holiday baking list. They’re a classic cookie that everyone loves. Fill them with your favorite jam- whether it be store bought or homemade. I love strawberry jam and it’s what I use most often. I think they’d be incredible with raspberry or blackberry jam. Maybe I’ll try them out with Nana’s Spiced Peach Jam next!
How to make Jam Thumbprint Cookies
I love how simple it is to make such an gorgeous holiday cookie! To start you preheat the oven to 375º F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. I used an 11×17 jelly roll pan.
Gather all the ingredients together, making sure your butter is softened and that your egg yolks are separated from the egg whites. Use an electric mixer to mix the butter and sugar. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla. Combine the flour and salt together and then combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix in your electric mixer.
Using a small cookie scoop, make dough balls out of 2 teaspoon sized portions of dough. Put the ball on the parchment lined cookie sheet, setting the cookies 1 inch away from each other. Use a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to indent each cookie. Don’t worry if the indents don’t look perfect or if the cookies crack a bit- just press the sides back together! You’ll actually “fix” the indents again after the cookies bake.
Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool a few minutes, then use that same 1/2 teaspoon to re-indent each cookie, pressing sides back together to make them more rounded, if needed. Fill each cookies with your favorite jam and then place them back in the oven for 3-4 more minutes, to soften the jam. Let cool completely. The jam will take about 2-3 hours before it sets enough where you can stack the cookies.
How to make the best Christmas Cookie recipe
Three kitchen items really help you make the best Christmas cookies ever! I actually use these items in nearly every cookie recipe I make, as well as several other types of recipes, so they’re quite versatile. First, I line my cookie sheets with a piece of parchment paper. They’re sold in sizes that fit a 12×16 cookie sheet perfectly and enable to cookies to bake well without sticking- and no mess from spraying oil on the cookie sheets!
The second item is a KitchenAid mixer. I love mine! I have a Bosch as well but I find I use my KitchenAid for cookies. There is a cookie paddle that comes with every mixer that you attach to the top of the mixer. They’re easy to use and help you mix the ingredients uniformly. Add this to your wish list because it’s one of my all-time used small appliances ever!
The third item is a cookie scoop! Years and years ago I used to use 2 spoons to measure and scrape cookie dough onto the pans. It wasn’t a perfect process and I often ended up with oblong cookies in various sizes. A friend of mine brought cookies to a party and I noticed each and every one of her cookies looked PERFECT. Her secret? A cookie scoop! They come in three sizes- 1/2 tablespoon, 1.5 tablespoon and 3 tablespoon scoops. I used the smallest size- 1/2 tablespoon for these thumbprint cookies.
Soft Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks, at room temperature)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Jam
Directions for making Soft Jam Thumbprint Cookie recipe:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract. Add flour and salt and mix until incorporated and dough comes together in a ball. If desired, chill for 30 minutes.
- Form dough into 1-inch balls (make sure they’re perfectly round), and arrange on prepared cookie sheet. Use a ½ tsp. measuring spoon to create perfectly circular craters in the center.
- Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cookie sheet from oven. If indentations look shallow, further define them again and fill each with a bit of jam.
- Bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until jam melts slightly and edges of cookies are lightly golden.
SOFT JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Jam
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat together butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract.
- Add flour and salt and mix until incorporated and dough comes together in a ball. If desired, chill for 30 minutes.
- Form dough into 1-inch balls (make sure they’re perfectly round), and arrange on prepared cookie sheet. Use a 1/2 tsp. measure to create perfectly circular craters in the center.
- Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove cookie sheet from oven. If indentations look shallow, further define them again, and fill each with a bit of jam.
- Bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until jam melts slightly and edges of cookies are lightly golden.
You’ll want to try out our other popular Christmas cookies here:
How do you soften butter?
I like to soften butter by using the defrost function on my microwave. If you need the full 1/2 cup cube of butter, you can leave it in the paper wrapper, otherwise, place the amount of butter you need in a glass or porcelain bowl. I use the lowest defrost setting on my microwave and just let it run for 20 seconds. Check the butter and see how soft it is by pressing it with a rubber scraper. If it is still not soft to the touch, meaning it doesn’t indent when you press into it, let it warm for another 5-10 seconds. Watch it closely! Butter softens very quickly.
Can Thumbprint cookies be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze Jam Thumbprint Cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Make sure you first let them sit on the countertop for 2-3 hours before stacking them in the airtight container, so that the jam has enough time to set. Store each layer with a piece of parchment paper in between so that the cookies will not stick together and maintain their prettiness when defrosted.
^^ Before baking.
Maxie Lydna says
April 1, 2014 at 1:57 amI just made them!! DELICIOUS
Amanda Petersen says
April 4, 2014 at 8:49 pmI'm so glad you liked them! Hooray! Mmm… makes me want to whip up a batch right now… 🙂 <br />- Amanda @ Butter with a Side of Bread
Abby says
August 10, 2018 at 12:47 pmI might sound kinda dumb but how do you sprinkle the powder sugar on the cookies without sprinkling to much? I’v got a heavy hand according to my hubby so I don’t want to mess up
Jessica says
August 15, 2018 at 8:11 amI’m like you- I always use a fine mesh strainer. Just put some powdered sugar in it then lightly shake or tap it over the cookies.
marzita muhammad says
March 12, 2019 at 12:51 amhi…Im ita from malaysia…just want to know…you mention about letting the jem to set about 2-3 hours before stacking in airtight container…will this make the cookie become less crunchy…or less fresh. tq
Jessica says
March 26, 2019 at 11:30 amThe cookies will soften over time, but they’ll still maintain their structure.
Lynn Lilly says
December 3, 2018 at 9:09 pmThese look delicious!!! I can’t wait to try this recipe for my girls night in holiday party!
Jessica says
December 4, 2018 at 8:58 amThanks Lynn!
Pam says
December 4, 2018 at 11:29 amQuestion, you mentioned your kitchen aid for the frosting? I was lost didn’t think there was frosting. And I want to make these this weekend if you could clarify that would be great! Thanks!!
Jessica says
December 18, 2018 at 11:28 amI fixed that- I apologize! No frosting for this recipe. You’re welcome to add a drizzle of vanilla glaze if you’d like- YUM!
April J Harris says
December 9, 2018 at 1:13 pmWhat lovely thumbprint cookies! I like how versatile these are, and that you can switch up the jam! Thank you for sharing, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Hope to see you again this week. Hope you have had a lovely weekend!
Renee Goerger says
December 10, 2018 at 10:02 amThese are always on our holiday cookie tray! They’re a family favorite!!
Jillian says
December 10, 2018 at 10:23 amI love how easy and tasty this recipe is to make, definitely a keeper!
Ruby says
December 10, 2018 at 9:40 pmI want to make these but don’t want to pull them out and re dent the dough. Have you tried just cooking with jam in from start? Some dough will be fine, some wont. Which is this?
I’ve got a boatload of cookies to make.
Nena says
June 9, 2019 at 2:22 pmMade these twice already, love them!
Nena says
June 9, 2019 at 2:45 pmJust came back to check how many this makes. It says 30 but I got 60. Lol
Nena says
June 9, 2019 at 2:47 pmI’m new to baking and these turned out perfect!
Alison says
June 10, 2019 at 8:51 pmNena, so glad to hear these turned out great for you!