Description
Delight in these festive Christmas Thumbprint Cookies featuring a crisp buttery exterior with a super soft center. Easily customizable with various toppings and fillings, they’re perfect for holiday cookie boxes and gatherings. Ready quickly with no chill time, these cookies promise a delicious and versatile treat for the season.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour (300g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa powder
Toppings and Fillings
- ½ cup granulated sugar for coating (or your preferred topping)
- ½ cup seedless jam (or your preferred fillings)
Instructions
- Prepare the butter mixture: In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat well until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
- Add wet ingredients: Incorporate the sea salt, egg, and vanilla extract into the butter and sugar mixture. Beat thoroughly until the mixture is light and fluffy again.
- Add dry ingredients: Sift the all-purpose flour and baking powder directly into the bowl. Fold the mixture gently until the dough forms.
- Divide and flavor the dough: Remove half of the dough into a separate bowl. Add the dutch processed cocoa powder to the remaining dough and mix gently until fully incorporated.
- Scoop and shape: Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, portion out balls of both vanilla and chocolate dough. Roll each scoop between your hands to form smooth, even balls.
- Coat the cookie balls: Roll each dough ball in your choice of topping such as granulated sugar, coarse sugar, powdered sugar, finely chopped roasted nuts, or desiccated coconut.
- Create the thumbprint: Press the center of each dough ball down with your thumb or a measuring teaspoon to create an indent for the filling. To form a heart shape, press once with your index finger, then again at a slight angle.
- Fill the cookies: Fill the indents with your preferred jam (seedless raspberry jam recommended), lemon curd, fruit curd, or hard candies. For fillings like Nutella, chocolates, or Hershey kisses, wait to add them after baking.
- Arrange and bake: Place the cookies on a parchment-lined or nonstick baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake at 355°F (180°C) for 10 minutes, being careful not to overbake to keep them soft.
- Add final toppings: Right after baking, add any additional toppings like Nutella, chocolates, or Hershey kisses. For Nutella or similar, create a small indent with a teaspoon before adding.
- Cool and serve: Bake the cookies in batches and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy your festive and customizable Christmas Thumbprint Cookies!
Notes
- No chill time is needed, making this recipe quick and easy to prepare.
- You can customize the cookies with a variety of toppings and fillings, including powdered sugar, chopped nuts, desiccated coconut, fruit curds, or hard candies.
- For fillings like Nutella or chocolates, add them after baking to preserve texture and flavor.
- The cookies have crisp buttery outsides and soft, tender centers, perfect for holiday cookie boxes.
- Be careful not to overbake to keep the cookies from becoming hard and crispy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cookies
- Calories: 124 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 14 g
- Fiber: 0.4 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 23 mg
