Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies (2024)

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 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 just melt in your mouth when you bite into them. The sweet raspberry jam in the center of the cookie dough gives this dessert a delicious pop of fruit flavor in these classic 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 perfect for the holiday season 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.

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 theraspberry thumbprint cookie recipe.

When I gave these cookies to kids without the sprinkle-filled cookies nearby, they seemed to all especially enjoy that the cookies are filled in the center and love this recipe.

One friend even told me thumbprints are usually not her favorite cookie because they are often hard, but these 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

• 1/2cupbutter– 1 stick (unsalted, softened)
• 1cupwhite granulated sugardivided
• 1/2cupbrown sugar
• 1egg
• 1teaspoonalmond extract
• 1 1/2cupsall purpose flour
• 1/4teaspoonsalt
• 1/3cupseedless raspberry jam – You can use raspberry preserves or your favorite flavor of jam. 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 shortbread cookies in the center with an indent. Fill the cookies with jam, chill and then bake the cookies, easy peasy! I like to make a batch of these raspberry cookies and a batch of my green Grinch-inspired thumbprint cookies and put them on the same platter, the red and green is festive together.

Making The Cookie Dough

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray lightly with cooking oil.
2. In a large bowl add softened butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar. With an electric hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer) at medium speed cream the butter and sugar mixture together until smooth. You can use a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, but a whisk attachment will also work.

3. Add the egg and almond extract to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
4. 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. Scrape down the bowl as needed. The cookie dough may look a little crumbly at first, but it should hold together more like playdoh.

5. 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 prepared baking sheet.

6. 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.

7. 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

1. Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes, the cookies will spread a little as they bake. Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges are just lightly brown.
2. Fill the middle with extra jam if any need a little more jam. Move cookies to a cooling rack or clean cooking towel to cool completely. Allow cookies to cool, then enjoy! then enjoy!

Variation Ideas

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! If you love fruit and chocolate together try these maraschino cherry cookies which have both!

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 Is The Best Way To Press The Center Indent Of The Cookie?

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!)

You can also use a measuring spoon that is round, a teaspoon is usually about 3/4 inch across.

I’ve also found that using something small and round to make the imprint works better than 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 These 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 dough and press the centers of the cookies before filling. Then I fill the frozen cookies and bake from frozen. This cookie recipe 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 taste their best if eaten within 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!