Some things you just gotta have at Christmas and these Christmas Thumbprint Cookies are one of them! These are good old fashioned cookies that have been around for generations.
Pretty straightforward. The nice thing is you can use whatever your favourite flavour of jam is. I would just avoid any jams with seeds because it isn't fun if they get stuck in your teeth!
These cookies freeze well after they are baked. Just make sure they don't get stuck together with the jam touching. Use parchment paper to separate layers if necessary.
Don't overfill the centers because the jam will thin out and run when it is hot.
The cookies also spread out a bit on the cookie sheet so keep your balls down to 1" or less if you want dainty cookies.
I made them with apricot jam. And I did a variation with lemon curd as well. (Because I had some to use up). For the lemon curd, I made the thumbprint and cooked the cookies, adding the lemon curd filling after they were cool. I am not sure if you have to do it that way but it worked well. Lemon curd is thicker than jam so it performed well as a center filling.
The dough needs to be refrigerated for at least an hour before you form the balls and bake the cookies. I left mine overnight in the fridge and the flexibility was nice to have since I had a few other things on the go in the kitchen that day!
Whatever flavour you choose - Enjoy!
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Christmas Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature. Can be salted or unsalted.
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup jam I used apricot. Use your favourite but should be seedless.
- 3 tablespoon icing sugar
Instructions
- Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat in for about 1 minute.
- Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
- Mix the dry ingredients in to the butter mixture until just combined. (If it gets too thick switch to a spoon).
- Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap. Form a disc shape and seal with the wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour and up to 24 hours.
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or silicone. Preheat the oven to 350 °.
- Take a generous teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Transfer balls to the baking sheet spaced an inch or so apart. Cookies will spread a bit so don't make your balls too big if you want a dainty cookie.
- Use your thumb (or ½ teaspoon) to make a well in the center of the dough ball.
- Add a dab of jam to the well. Do not overfill.
- Bake for about 15 minutes until cookies start to colour.
- Allow cookies to cool completely. Sieve icing sugar over cooled cookies.
- Store in an airtight sealed container for up to 5 days or freeze.
Sharon
This recipe sparks a Christmas memory for me! These thumbprint cookies are fabulous, and easy to put together. I made 1/2 with orange marmalade and 1/2 with strawberry jam (from my childhood memory). Hubby loves them as much as myself, so more will be made for Christmas.
Sharon
I was surprised at how easy these came together. I made with orange marmalade and some with strawberry jam. These remind me of my grandparents cookies and are really good and will make again.