These are so good that I've made them twice in the last week. I've experimented with different fillings, but I think we actually like them best as plain cookies with no filling. They have the richness of shortbread, but the texture is closer to the tenderness of a sugar cookie. My only suggestion is that you really need to edit the order of the steps. Step 1 (turning on the oven) should be between Step 3 and Step 4. Obviously no one is going to turn the oven on and leave it on while the dough is chilling for one hour to overnight. Hopefully people are reading the recipe through before they jump in, but for newer, less experienced cooks, it would be helpful to put the steps in the right order.
Anonymous
1/9/2022
since i first made these and commented in 2017 (anon in boston) i have indeed been making them each year since. the only changes i have made in that time is the filling - i found that if you want lemon, use lemon pie filling. the lemon curd doesn't bake well (kind of melts and gets a bit chewy). raspberry jam is a favorite, but last year a friend in portland, OR sent me some marionberry jam. that was the hands down favorite. the flavor is like a blackberry-grape-raspberry to me. also, it keeps its structure in the oven better than any other jam i've tried so you can get a satisfying bite of jam in the middle. (doesn't run or bleed around the edges of the well like raspberry as you can see in the recipe photo - not that the raspberry ones aren't delicious too!) this year i asked my friend to send more. highly recommend if you can get it!
stephanie
12/4/2021
These are delicious, but needed quite a bit more salt (I would venture to say 1 t). Also I made more of a cup-shape with the dough and put > 1/2 t jam in the middle. I found that they spread a lot, so next time I might try making my cups and chilling them before baking.
matstomato
Bainbridge Island, WA
11/20/2020
Made these with my 2 year old for a holiday cookie swap. They were perfect and delicious, the most popular cookies at the party. I used blueberry and strawberry jam. I used the leftover dough after filling two sheets to do some basic flat shortbread which were also delicious.
Anonymous
Asheville, NC
12/30/2019
This is a most excellent cookie. They last no more than a few days in my house. If you make the recipe exactly as stated, and I have done so several times, it is very good. But I do have some tips to make it even better. 1) The recipe definitely benefits from more flavor and thus more extract, I now use the one teaspoon vanilla PLUS one teaspoon almond extract, my family says they are definitely better this way. 2) Watch the timing. I have three different cookie sheets, and they all yield very different results. One of my sheets needs only about 12 minutes, another could benefit from an additional minute to the 15. You will have to experiment. 3) To make a really nice looking cookie, I use this Scottish wooden dowel tool that makes the perfect well for the jam. I don't know where I got it but it may be called a spurtle. It has a rounded end which is about a half inch in diameter. You stick that in and rotate it very slightly to make the well. 4) The Jam:- I have tried several but in the end I strongly recommend Bonne Maman, and definitely DO NOT OVERFILL. I like apricot, raspberry, and blackberry. I have found the blackberry to look the nicest because it doesn't have seeds and melts to a nice consistency. I recommend taking all jams out of the refrigerator and letting them come to room temperature before filling the cookies, they will be easier to work with. I have tried lemon curd, I didn't like that. Lemon curd has butter and then the cookie is just too buttery. Stick with jam. 5) Two dozen??? I don't know where they get that number. If you roll the balls exactly one inch in diameter as directed, I get about 70 cookies! And like others have stated, do not make them any bigger. You will have a huge cookie. 6) The chilling: If you chill the cookie dough, you really will need to take it out of the refrigerator for about an hour before using. I have used the dough without chilling at all when pressed for time and it works fine that way. Great cookie!
Anonymous
Larchmont, NY
12/2/2019
The texture of these cookies is amazing! Crispy and buttery. The only changes I made was to warm up my jam in the microwave for 30 seconds on 50% power so it would spread evenly (so they looked nicer after baking!), and I also put them in the freezer for 5-10 mins after assembling, and before putting in the oven. I might up the salt next time to 1/2 tsp, as well.
Lisa L
7/27/2019
These were delicious! My one change to the recipe was leaving out the dough to warm up enough for me to work with it.
fjacobs
Texas
4/23/2019
I’ve tried other thumbprint cookie recipes and this is the best. Delicious and easy to make. The recipe I tried last year did not include an egg and it was dry as sawdust. This one is perfect. It will be my go-to recipe from now on.
Mimijojo
Arizona
12/24/2018
My co-workers loved the cookies I baked with this recipe. I was using my Grandmother's recipe when it called for corn starch and I found that I was out. So I looked up this one and made it. I only had to redo a little bit of it. I also mixed the dough together in my Ninja food processor with their dough blade and the cookies turned out amazing! This one will be going in my book.
Cbizzell13
Charleston, SC
12/21/2017
Very good, three forks because of some small changes. I used light brown sugar and add a 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts to the four mixture. I got 4 dozen small cookies from this. They are butter and light and easy to make, unlike my old thumbprint recipe.
newenglandgardener
Thomaston CT
12/21/2017
These came out "perfect" looking and were a cinch to make, but where is the flavor? I tried thinking of ways to dress them up, but I ultimately threw them away and made the MUCH better tasting thumbprint -- shortbread. Again, pretty & easy, but not good enough for my cookie tray.If you're looking for a delicious thumbprint, head over to Sally's Baking Addiction and check out her Almond Shortbread Thumbprints.
MamaMamaMama
Dayton, OH
12/20/2017
Love this recipe. I did follow other suggestions and doubled the vanilla and substituted in 1/4 cup light brown sugar. I let the dough stay in the fridge overnight. Took it out 2 hours before forming cookies. Used a 1/2 Tablespoon measure for each cookie, about .4ozs. Made a dent with a 1/2 teaspoon and filled with jam. I found cookies that were rolled and left to sit for a few minutes easier to indent and fill. Baked on convection setting of 325 for 12-13 minutes per sheet. Perfect! Got about 65 cookies that are bite size and no running jam! Thanks for all the tips.
macdougall1
New York
12/20/2017
Hello, I have to make 6 dozen of these cookies. Can I triple recipe or should I reduce some of the ingredients? Thanks!
dandread
Rhode Island
12/16/2017
I love this recipe. I made these cookies 6 times ranging from raspberry, apricot, black cherry, blueberry jams. It's so simple that I memorized the recipe. Although, I switched the vanilla extract to almond extract and used 2 teaspoons instead of 1. Now it has become the most popular among my family and friends. Thank you 😊 Lisa from Chicago
lisa.yuen32233
Chicago, Illinois
10/6/2017
LOVE this recipe! Made just a few tweaks to make it my own: Used 1/2 c. White Sugar and 1/4 c. Brown Sugar (instead of 3/4 c. white sugar). Did not leave the dough to set for 1-hour...used it right away (pressed for time). Used a 1 T. scooper to drop dough balls into sugar, rolled the balls around and then pressed thumbprint into cookie after placing on cookie sheet. Filled with homemade jam from the Strawberry Guava tree in my yard. Changed cooking time to 10-min total. Cookies came out perfectly fluffy with light brown around the edges. Jam needs some time to totally set, but you can certainly eat them right away if you're like me and have no self control.
jimilkowski
San Diego, CA
2/11/2017
