Almond Thumbprint Cookies

My Grandma was the undisputed Queen of Homemade Cookies. Grandma's cookies were a staple of my childhood that I largely took for granted. She always had several different kinds in the freezer and rare was the visit when she didn't pull some out for us to nibble on (ok... devour) while we talked.

Every Christmas, we all received a tin filled to bursting with several different kinds of small, bite-sized cookies. We all had our favorites. My kids loved her Pecan Sand Tarts with a chocolate kiss in the center.

I loved them all, but her jam filled thumbprint cookies were my favorite. They were tender, buttery and so pretty, with little dollops of jam in the center so that they glittered like jewels.

What Are Thumbprint Cookies?

Thumbprint cookies originated in Sweden, where they are called Hallongrotta, which is Swedish for "raspberry cave." Australia has a similar cookie, which they like to call "Jam Drops".

Here in the United States, they are called thumbprint cookies because they are made by pressing your thumb into little balls of cookie dough to create an impression that can be filled with jam, caramel, or chocolate.

Thumbprint cookies are usually made from shortbread dough, as they are in this recipe, which results in soft, tender cookies that are so buttery they practically melt in your mouth.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare this Recipe

• Whole raw almonds.
• Unsalted butter.
• Brown sugar, light or dark.
• Granulated sugar.
• Eggs.
• Pure vanilla extract.
• Almond extract.
• All-purpose flour, preferably unbleached.
• Whole wheat flour.
• Superfine almond flour keeps the texture of these cookies soft and tender. If your local market doesn't carry super fine almond flour, you can order it. Or, process regular almond flour in a food processor along with ½ cup of the all-purpose flour and for a minute or two.
• Salt.
• Fruit jam or preserves. My two favorites are Peach Preserves and Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.

What Kind of Jam is Best for Thumbprint Cookies?

You can use any kind of jam or preserves you like in Thumbprint cookies. My grandma used several different kinds of jam when she made a batch of thumbprint cookies, and all the different colors looked so pretty.

The thumbprint cookies you see pictured here are filled with homemade peach preserves. They were baked in August, when Colorado peaches are in season, after having made several batches of preserves.

My other favorite thumbprint cookie filling is strawberry rhubarb jam, another summer staple that I make a point to make every year.

Aside from slathering homemade bread or buttermilk biscuits with peach preserves, these thumbprint cookies are my favorite way to use any kind of homemade jam.

But use any kind of jam or preserves you like to make these cookies. The only consideration is to choose a brand that's not thin or runny. The thicker and fruitier the better.

How to Make the Shortbread Cookie Dough

The dough for these cookies is a basic shortbread dough, which means there is a high percentage of butter to flour and no leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda.

In lieu of baking powder or baking soda, shortbread dough relies on air trapped in butter to keep the cookies from being overly heavy. The jagged surface of the sugar crystals digs into the butter as you beat them together. This creates tiny pockets of air trapped in the molecules of fat.

Beat the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer for several minutes until the mixture is light in color and visibly aerated. It will look almost fluffy.

Add the egg, egg yolk, and the vanilla and almond extracts to the butter mixture and beat for a minute or so until it's well combined.

Add the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and almond flour to the dough.

Mix on low just until everything is combined.

At this point the dough needs to be refrigerated for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Do you absolutely HAVE to refrigerate this dough? Yes, you do. It's important to firm up all that butter again so that when the cookies bake they'll keep their cute little thumbprint shape. If the dough is warm, the butter will spread and leak out, resulting in cookies that are flat and greasy.

While the dough is chilling out in the refrigerator, roast the almonds. Spread them out onto a baking sheet and roast them at about 375 degree F (190 degrees C) until they are darker in color and smell nutty. Set them out on the countertop so they can cool down. Once cool, pulse them a few times in a food processor until they are the consistency of coarse corn meal.

How to Shape and Fill Thumbprint Cookies

When the dough is well chilled, shape it into tablespoon size balls, then use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each one. Dip the tops of the cookies in finely chopped roasted almonds and line them up on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Fill the little indentation in each cookie with a dollop of jam or preserves, and then bake!

Let the cookies cool, then mix some powdered sugar, half and half, and almond extract together to make a glaze. Drizzle the cookies with the glaze and let them rest until the glaze has set.

Or, don't let them rest, and do what we do in this house - eat them straight away.

How to Store These Cookies

These little thumbprint cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. They will, in fact, last longer than this, but after three days they start to taste a little bit stale.

They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

If you are keeping them in a container in which the cookies need to be stacked on top of each other, lay a piece of parchment paper between the layers of cookies to keep them from sticking together.

This is a Building Block Recipe

Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new. > Scroll through all Building Block recipes.

I will say that as much as I love this recipe, they don't hold a candle to my Grandma's thumbprint cookies. How could they? They weren't baked by her.

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.

Happy baking!