THUMBPRINT COOKIES – The Southern Lady Cooks

These classic thumbprint cookies are a wonderful treat during the holiday season, for afternoon coffee or tea, or when you want to make a great cookie.

If you love these cookies, definitely check out our Classic Sugar Cookies. They are a wonderful Christmas cookie and so fun to decorate during the holiday season.

❤️WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE

These thumbprint cookies are delicious sugar cookies, rolled in sugar (which you can leave off) and then your favorite jam in the center. They have a wonderful taste and I don’t think they are “overly” sweet. They have the perfect amount of sweetness and are great for Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, etc.

We love to add these cookies with all of our other Christmas cookies into decorative tins to give to our neighbors for Christmas. These make a wonderful gift.

🍴KEY INGREDIENTS

• Powdered sugar
• Butter, softened
• Egg
• Vanilla extract 
• Almond extract 
• Salt
• All-purpose flour
• White granulated sugar
• Jams, preserves or jellies.

SWAPS

You could switch out the extract in this recipe and use coconut, maple, etc. Use whatever you think will be a great flavor with the jam you choose.

🍽️HOW TO MAKE

The longest step in making these cookies is chilling the dough for 30 minutes. You want the fat to harden in the dough, so you can’t skip that step.

COOKING STEPS

Step 1
Mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt with mixer.  Fold in flour with a spoon and make ingredients into a large ball.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Step 2
Pinch off pieces of dough roll into small balls with your hands. I pinch off about a tablespoon of dough for each cookie. Have the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a bowl. Roll the balls in the sugar and place on a baking sheet.

Step 3
I use the end of a wooden spoon to make a hole in the middle of the cookie balls.  You can use your thumb or whatever works for you.  Add your favorite jams, preserves or jellies to the center hole in each cookie.  Bake in a 325-degree preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Note: I used blackberry jam and apricot preserves in this recipe. Makes about 2 dozen cookies depending on the size you make them. You can use one and one-half teaspoons of vanilla extract in the recipe if you don’t have the almond extract.  

⭐TIP

If the dough gets warm and to hard to work with, just put it back into the refrigerator for a bit. If your dough is sticky, you need to add more flour to work with it.

SERVE THIS WITH

If you’re making these for a gathering, you may want to add these delicious Tea Cakes. They do great with these cookies, especially for a bridal shower. You can also add these delicious old-fashioned molasses cookies. They are always a hit!

❓FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

STORING

We store them in an airtight container and they keep very well.

💕MORE POPULAR RECIPES TO ENJOY

Five Minute Fudge

This fudge is an excellent recipe for the holidays! Makes a great gift too!

SERVING SIZE

Makes about 2 dozen cookies, so you can decide how many servings that is. You can easily double the recipe.

Thumbprint Cookies

Leigh Walkup

These thumbprint cookies are a wonderful holiday cookie. Perfect for bridal showers, baby showers, Christmas, Easter, etc.

Course Cookies

Cuisine American

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• Favorite jams preserves or jellies

• Mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt with mixer. Fold in flour with spoon and make ingredients into a large ball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

• Pinch off pieces of dough, roll into small balls with your hands. I pinch off about a tablespoon of dough for each cookie. Have the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a bowl. Roll the balls in the sugar and place on a baking sheet.

• I use the end of a wooden spoon to make a hole in the middle of the cookie balls. You can use your thumb or whatever works for you. Add your favorite jams, preserves or jellies to the center hole in each cookie. Bake in a 325 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes.

• I used blackberry jam and apricot preserves in this recipe. Makes about 2 dozen cookies depending on the size you make them.

You can use one and one half teaspoons vanilla extract in the recipe if you don’t have the almond extract.

Keyword Thumbprint Cookies

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