The holidays are coming! After you've decorated the tree and strung the lights, you'll need to prepare something yummy for your guests. It would be nice to put something lavish together, but your schedule is probably jam-packed. Spread holiday cheer this year with something else that's jam-packed: thumbprint cookies!
An Easy Thumbprint Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- raspberry jam
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix the egg, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt together until combined. You can use a mixer or a wooden spoon.
Once everything is mixed, slowly add your flour in batches until a dough forms. Don’t add everything at once -- that will make a mess and make the dough tough to stir.
Using a tablespoon, scoop spoonfuls of dough from the bowl and roll them into balls.
Place the balls on the cookie sheet about 1-2 inches apart.
Press your thumb gently into the middle of each cookie. Fill each indentation with the raspberry jam.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.
Let your cookies cool completely before indulging.
Supplies
- cookie sheets
- parchment paper
- large bowl
- electric mixer or wooden spoon
- tablespoon
Thumbprint Cookie Variations
Fill Them With Kisses
The traditional jam-filled cookies are amazing, but you could do a chocolate filling if you'd like.
Hershey's Kisses are a popular choice for thumbprint cookies, but you'll need to be careful when using them. Instead of plopping the Kisses into the cookies before baking, do it after. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, gently press a Kiss into the middle of each one.
Make Them From Chocolate
A lone Hershey's Kiss just isn't enough chocolate for many of us. That's okay! You can make your thumbprint cookies with cocoa to give the base a big dose of chocolate. When you're stirring in your flour, add about half a cup of cocoa to the mix to give you the chocolate base you need. You can fill the cookies with jam, Kisses, or your favorite chocolatey garnish.
Make Vegan or Gluten-Free Versions
Need to make vegan thumbprint cookies? No problem! Use vegan butter instead of the regular stuff, and use one mashed banana for the egg. You could also use coconut oil in lieu of butter, which will give your cookies a splendid coconut flavor.
Substitute almond or coconut flour for regular flour if you're avoiding gluten.
Bake a few dozen of these thumbprint cookies this year, and spread the Christmas spirit!
