Easy Thumbprint Cookies made with chocolate cookie dough and fruit jam. Beautiful and easy-to-make holiday cookie, perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Today I am sharing a very easy thumbprint cookies recipe. These simple cookies are made with chocolate cookie dough and are perfect for the upcoming holidays: Christmas and New Year's Eve. Other easy holiday cookie recipes that I love are amaretto almond shortbread cookies and cranberry noels.
I love how festive these thumbprint cookies look, especially if you fill them with different types of jam or fruit preserves. For instance, on these photos you can see that I used apricot preserves and strawberry preserves, which created cookies with two distinctly different fillings and colors (orange and red).
The chocolate cookie dough produced a very soft and buttery cookie, which is then filled with jam.
Baking tips
- To make sure that the cookies turn out tall and not flatten out during baking, use softened unsalted butter (not melted!) - take it out of the refrigerator an hour prior to preparing the cookies and it should soften to the right consistency (not liquid, and still keeping its brick shape).
- Then, after you've made the cookie dough, roll each individual cookie into 1 inch ball, press a well into a center of each cookie using your fingers or back of a wooden spoon. Then freeze these raw cookies for about 30 minutes.
How to bake thumbprint cookies
Bake these cookies in the preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and after 7 minutes of baking take them out and press well into a center of each cookie again to make it more pronounced. Then continue baking for 5 more minutes.
I want to emphasize again that it's very important that you use softened butter (not melted), form cookie dough into cookie balls and keep them in the freezer for 30 minutes right before baking. Otherwise, you will get a flat cookie.
I love these colorful treats! These thumbprint cookies will look gorgeous on a holiday cookie tray, don't you think?
Easy Thumbprint Cookies with Fruit Jam
Ingredients
- 2 â…” cups all-purpose flour
- â…“ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz unsalted butter , room temperature (let the butter from refrigerator sit on the counter for about an hour or so), not melted but softened
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract pure
- ½ cup apricot preserves or jam
- ½ cup strawberry preserves or jam
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine together flour, cocoa powder, and salt and mix.
- In a separate bowl, using electric mixer, beat softened butter and granulated sugar on high speed until light in color and fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla – continue beating for a couple more minutes. Turn off the electric mixer, add flour-cocoa-salt mixture and then continue beating on low speed until well-combined but without over mixing.
- Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Press a well into a center of each cookie ball using your fingers or a back of a wooden spoon. Then freeze these raw cookies for about 30 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and after 7 minutes of baking, take the cookies out and press well into a center of each cookie with the end of a wooden spoon again to make it more pronounced. Then, return the baking sheet to the oven and continue baking for 5-7 more minutes.
- Let cookies cool completely. Using a small spoon, put jam/preserves filling into each thumbprint cookie.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
How, How do you make them look so good, Julia ?! I love your touch...and the cookies 🙂 ela
we love making and devouring thumbprints ever since childhood...these look glorious and are bursting with colors,thanks 🙂
Thumbprint perfection! I need to try a batch with chocolate dough...yummy!
Great recipe! I'm a chocolate chip kinda guy though 😉
I love thumbprint cookies, these look amazing!
Very pretty and some great tips with the instructions.
These cookies look so delicious Julia! I'm a big fan of thumbprints, but I hate when thet turn out flat :--( Thanks for the tip! xo
I love that these thumbprints have a chocolate cookie base! I don't think I've ever made them that way! And then with the different jams they just look so pretty : ) Happy weekend Julia!
Love a thumbprint cookie, especially these chocolate ones! Have a great weekend Julia!
Chocolate and apricot, what a delightful combination! These cookies look amazing Julia! Pinned!
Such cuties Julia:)
Yumm! thanks for the tip on freezing the raw cookies first!!
Thumbprint cookies are one of my favourite cookies!! These look adorable and delicious, Julia. Pinned!
Hi Julia,
These remind me so much of biscuits/cookies I used to have as a child! They look delicious indeed. I really like your 'set' design, too - very pretty 🙂
Yum! I would never turn down a thumbprint cookie and especially a chocolate one!