Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Melt in your mouth raspberry thumbprint cookies are tender with a delicious burst of raspberry fruit jam in the center. This classic cookie is soft, sweet and has a delicious buttery almond flavor. These classic cookies are one of the tastiest cookies on any cookie plate and is an easy recipe to bake for friends and family.

Why We Love Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

• Tender Buttery Cookies– These delicious buttery cookies are tender and delicious, and just melt in your mouth when you bite into them. The fruit in the center of each cookie gives this dessert a delicious pop of fruit flavor in these classic thumbprint cookies.
• Great Cookie For Christmas or Valentine’s Day- Raspberry thumbprints are a great Christmas cookie for around the Christmas tree. These jam thumbprint cookies are fun to make with the kids, and are delicious on cookie trays and for cookie exchanges. This recipe is also great for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day too!
• Simple Ingredients– These cookies have simple ingredients that can be found in most kitchens, and are pretty easy to make overall.

If you love the fruity taste of these cookies, you’ll love these soft lemon sugar cookies, the cheery orange cranberry cookies with sweet orange glaze, or my fresh raspberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!

I made these cookies for a party recently. While the kids tended to be pulled towards cookies with brightly colored sprinkles like my frosted sugar cookie bars, the adults couldn’t stop snacking on these raspberry thumbprint cookies.

One friend even told me thumbprints are usually not her favorite cookie because they are often hard, but these thumbprint cookies were just soft enough and delicious! I’m not sure you can beat a compliment like that!

If you are feeling more adventurous, try these cookies with my easy homemade raspberry jam recipe or mix it up with my easy blackberry jam recipe in the center of the cookies!

Ingredients For Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter – 1 stick (unsalted, softened)
• 1 cup white granulated sugar divided
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam – or other fruit preserve. Using the best quality jam you can will make the cookies taste even better in this recipe.

How To Make Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

First make the cookie dough, then roll and press the cookies in the center. Fill the cookies with jam, chill and then bake the cookies, easy peasy!

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray lightly with cooking oil.

Making The Cookie Dough

• In a large bowl add softened butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar. With an electric hand mixer (or using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer) cream together butter and sugar mixture until smooth.
• Add the egg and almond extract to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
• Sprinkle the salt around the bowl of wet ingredients so it distributes evenly in the cookie dough. Add the flour a little bit at a time, mixing in between until a dough forms.

• Shape dough balls with about a tablespoon of cookie dough into 1-inch balls. Use a cookie scoop for more even cookies. Roll each cookie dough ball in 1/4 cup of white sugar then place on the baking sheet.

• Use the end of a wooden spoon or your thumb to create a hole in the center of each ball for the jam. I’ve also found using the round end of my extract bottle or a clean cork from a bottle of wine gives me the best shape and size for the jam to stay in the cookie. About 3/4 of an inch across is the perfect size circle.

• Fill each hole with about 1 teaspoon of raspberry jam. It can be less messy to put the jam in a zip-top bag and then snip the bottom corner. Use the bag of jam to fill the cookies. Sprinkle the tops with a little additional white sugar before baking.

Baking The Cookies

• Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes, the cookies will spread a little as they bake. Remove the cookies from the oven before the edges start to brown.
• Fill the middle with extra jam if any need a little more jam. Move cookies to a cooling rack or clean cooking towel to finish cooling, then enjoy!

FAQ and Swaps

Swap The Jam Flavor– You can make more than one flavor of cookie from this cookie, simply swap the flavor of jam! Try strawberry, apricot, cherry preserves, blueberry preserves, or even lemon curd. For a twist, fill these cookies with chocolate ganache or Nutella, yum!

Add A Glaze– A drizzled glaze is another way to take these pretty cookie and make them feel even fancier. Use the glaze from my sweet glazed blueberry biscuits recipe to drizzle over these cookies! You’ll need powdered sugar, butter, milk, vanilla to make the glaze.

Why Did My Cookies Spread Too Much?

The cookies spreading too much is usually caused by the cookie dough being too warm. Chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least twenty minutes, or about fifteen minutes in the freezer after portioning and filling the cookies with jam.

If the cookies still spread too much you may need to put the cookies in the fridge or freezer for a little longer before baking.

What Else Can I Use To Press The Thumbprint Center?

I’ve found a clean wine cork (if you have one) or the small end of my bottle of vanilla extract works really well for pressing the circle in the center of these cookies. Both are a little wider than the wooden spoon handle at about 3/4 inches across, which gives a little more room for the jam in the cookie than using a spoon handle.

Make sure to clean the wine cork or lid first, and use the side of the cork that wasn’t in the wine. (It’s not so bad for the baker most of the time to open up a bottle of wine for the adults!)

I’ve also found that using something small and round to make the imprint works better then your thumb. When I created the indentation with my thumb the shape is a little more oval. This can cause the jam to sometimes spill out of the cookie when baking if the oval is not a super neat shape. For the most consistent cookies use something round to make your indentation.

Can I Freeze Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies?

Yes, you can freeze these raspberry thumbprint cookies.

You can also freeze cookies that have been baked. I like to freeze cookies on a cookie sheet completely first, then stack them in a container so they stack easier.

Place freezer paper or parchment paper in between the layers and freeze in a freezer-safe container or freezer-safe zip-top bag. Expect frozen cookies will taste fresh for about three months.

If freezing these cookies as dough I like to portion the cookie dough and press the centers of the cookies before filling. Then I fill the frozen cookie dough and bake from frozen. Cookies may need an extra minute or two in the oven if baking from frozen.

How Do I Store These Cookies?

Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter. Cookies should last three days.

If cookies are stored in the refrigerator, you may want to let them come to room temperature before eating.

Other Recipes You Will Love

Stained Glass Cookies– These soft cookies have a chewy, fruity gummy center you can see right through! These sweet cookies are easy to make and are so pretty!

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars– A creamy layer of cheesecake on top of a buttery graham cracker crust swirled with raspberry on top, these bars are always on my husband’s request list and are a big hit at parties.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes– Sweet vanilla cupcakes topped with a cream cheese frosting and lots of fresh strawberries, amazingly delicious!

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies– Sweet, buttery, and slightly tangy in all the right ways! Cranberry white chocolate chip cookies are chewy and delicious!

No Bake Cornflake Cookies– These sweet peanut butter no-bake cornflake cookies are quick to make and delicious to eat!

Snickerdoodle Cookies– Soft, chewy snickerdoodle cookies rolled in sweet cinnamon sugar, delicious!