Jam thumbprints are a popular holiday cookie. I always bake at least one batch during December. The other day I was browsing through Abby Dodge’s Dessert 4 Today cookbook and found a recipe for Jammin’ Sugar Cookie Thumbprints. I turned on my favorite Christmas tunes and started “jammin’.” I couldn’t wait to make these cute little jam thumbprints cookies.
The best part about these cookies-there are only four ingredients. Every recipe in Dessert 4 Today only has four ingredients. Pretty amazing, right? I am in love with this book. There are so many delicious dessert recipes that don’t require a lot of fuss, but are still impressive.
The only ingredients you need for the jam thumbprints are: sugar, butter, flour, and jam. You don’t even have to make a trip to the store to bake these adorable cookies. The cookies are buttery, crisp, and filled with sweet jam. I used homemade peach, apricot, and strawberry jam. I had quite the assortment of thumbprints going on. I tasted one of each, just to make sure they were ok:) I loved them all!
If you are looking for a simple, no fuss holiday cookie to share with your loved ones make jammin’ sugar cookie thumbprints. I think I will even leave a plate of jam thumbprints for Santa. I know he will love them and hopefully leave me a new camera lens or iPad…ha!
Jammin' Sugar Cookie Thumbprints
- Servings
- 10 cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup jam your favorite flavor
Instructions
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1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with a nonstick liner. Put the 3 tablespoons sugar in a small ramekin and set aside.
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2. Put the butter and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth and blended, about 1 minute. Add the flour. Beat on medium-low speed until just blended, about 1 minute.
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3. Using your hands, press and roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the reserved sugar and arrange on the prepared cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Using a finger, press down into the middle of each mound to make a well that's almost down to the bottom. (If the edges crack too much, reroll the dough and try again.)
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4. Bake until the tops look dry, 12-14 minutes. Let the cookies sit for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 2 days. Just before serving, use a small spoon to drop about 1/4 teaspoon of the jam into the indentation.
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If you want to mix things up, in place of the jam, you can use: fruit curd, peanut butter, Nutella, or dulce de leche.
If you like these jam thumbprint cookies, you might also like:
Lemon & Cherry Jam Thumbprint Cookies from Cookin’ Canuck
Jam Thumbprint Cookies from Picky Cook
Chocolate Thumbprints from Brown Eyed Baker
nice recipe, i wanna try this weekend
I just book marked this! I’m making cookies for my Mom for a Christmas party shes having and these will be PERFECT! I can’t believe there are only 4 ingredients!
My dad was just asking me to bake him some of these last night! Such a classic standby for us that we stil love. Yours look perfect!!!!
SO cute! Me and my grandma always made thumbprints together. Love them!
your thumbprints look great! i actually made thumbprints earlier this week to start off holiday baking season 🙂
Haha love the title! These cookies look super tasty!
I plan to ‘jam’ to some holiday baking this weekend too! These cookies look wonderful, I love the idea of using a sugar cookie as a base for thumbprints. And I agree – they are definitely a December staple!
Such a great cookie recipe & very pretty pictures too 🙂
We love thumbprint cookies in our house 🙂 I love that there’s only four ingredients!
Super delish looking! Great recipe!
Cute Cute Cute! Love everything about these cookies!
PW is right…you ARE the cookie queen!
I do love my cookies:)
I love jam thumbprints. So much fun!
My girls and I love to make thumbprint cookies! Your photos are lovely. Ours turn out a bit more lopsided and are usually covered with lots of sprinkles.
These look delicious! I love that they only have four ingredients.
Love these!
Just 4 ingredients, count me in! They look delicious and buttery!
Oh yum!! These look wonderful…and your pics are so beautiful! The jams you used look so cheery!
I’m almost more impressed by your assortment of homemade jams than I am by these thumbprint cookies! Almost. These are adorable!
I’ve never made thumbprint cookies, but these are too adorable to pass up! Love your colorful, flavorful jams too. I’ve got to try these for the holidays! Thanks, Maria!
Love these little cookies. I make a similar recipe and fill ’em with raspberry jam. So tasty!
I have a jar of orange marmalade in my cabinet that needs using up! These sound perfect!
Wow, I’m amazed that it only requires 4 ingredients. So easy to make! I’m sure going to try it out!
I totally love that cookbook, don’t you?
I must know what you and Josh do with all the baked goods you make.
We share with all of our neighbors and friends:) I also freeze cookie dough balls or make half batches:)
I love Abby’s book. These look wonderful!
Yum! These look awesome…plus anything with only 4 ingredients is a culinary win in my book.
Thumbprint cookies always give me nostalgia for home and Christmas. They’re always top on my mom’s Christmas cookie list!
So cute and colorful!
i LOVE thumbprints – totally remind me of christmas. beautiful colors of jam you chose for yours. thanks for the link love 🙂
Alright, I couldn’t resist. I just made these and then filled them with chocolate ganache. Looooove. I ate three. Now I should probably go eat dinner so that I can have a few more for dessert. 🙂
I am so intrigued by this cookbook and have got to get a copy of it!
These bring me back to childhood! I bet they were hard to resist.
Ooh! I love sugar cookies, but I bet they’re sooo much better with jam involved 🙂
What cute little cookies! So perfect for the holidays and I love that they only have 4 ingredients.
I’ve never made these, but I am so making them tomorrow! I don’t even have to go to the store, perfect!
I love these perfect bite size and yummy looking colorful cookies!
Your recipe was posted.
Hello, I found your blog via a link from Kitchen Adventures. Just wanted to stop by and say thank for posting so many great looking recipes. I can’t wait to try some!! Have a great weekend.
These are amazing! I love their color, so cute!
I have always loved thumbprint cookies and Abby’s 4 ingredients makes them simple perfect 🙂 They look delicious, I have a feeling Santa will approve.
your homemade jams have beautiful color. i love the look of your pics. would love to have them with some tea right now!
Thumbprints are a holiday classic and yours are gorgeous! Love all the different jam varieties!
So easy, so tasty and so pretty! The perfect old-school holiday cookie!
Made three batches of these to take to a get together at our opening of Christmas Tree Lane tonight. They were a huge hit.
So glad the cookies were a huge hit. Happy Holidays!
it’s absolutely amazing and so exciting when four ingredients combine so easily to make something so fantastic. the end.
These look delicious 🙂 I will have to try making these for sure!
Oh these look lovely! I just picked up a bunch of quinces to make jam – they’ll be perfect!
These are precious and a definite for my holiday baking list now!
So glad you joined in on Mingle Monday!
These cookies just scream Christmas to me 🙂 Yours look delicious!
Simple and delicious!
Thumbprints are my go to cookie when I need something easy. I love all the bright colors in yours with the different jams. Beautiful!
These are so pretty, Love that you made them with homemade jam. That makes them extra special for Santa.
I love that this is only four ingredients. I need to get this cookbook. I made the nutella brownies a while back and everyone loves them.
These are adorable little cookies. I really need to get my hands on Abby’s cookbook. Maybe Santa will be kind.
Have I told you lately how beautiful your blog is?! Every photo is perfection. And these thumbprint cookies look awesome. My kids would love to help me make them!
Thanks Marie:)
I like thumbprint cookies because of the tie back to my mom and making them with her. I created a “Persimmon Thumbprint Cookie” this year, which is a basic persimmon cookie (hold the nuts and raisins) and in the center, instead of jam, I put custard with fresh ground nutmeg. The combination of persimmon, which is a winter fruit, and nutmeg (like eggnog) is a great December cookie.
These cookies are super cute! They look like the perfect little snack to cure a craving for sweets!
I want to make these with my kids! 4 ingredients??? That’s my kind of baking!!! 🙂
Those are so cute! Y’all have the prettiest pictures! I love that there are only 4 ingredients, that’s wonderful!!!
Looks delicious!
These are exactly what I was looking for for my Lemon Curd for the lemon lovers in my family. Baked them today. Came out yummmmy! Thank You 🙂
These seem to be missing a crucial ingredient… egg. Made them as written and they were a total disaster. Made them again and added egg and didn’t have the crumbly and falling apart problems I had previously.
I made these and had awful results. I followed the recipe above to a T and they flatened out, becoming crispy and hard. Ew. Still on the hunt for a good thumb prInt cookie.
Agree with the last two comments, I followed this recipe exactly and they turned our awful! Flattened out and didn’t stick together. I was planning on bringing these to a party and had to start over from square one with a different recipe.
Sorry you didn’t like the recipe. I can’t adapt or change it because it was a recipe I featured from a cookbook. They worked for me. Sorry!!
This recipe looks great, but do you have the measurements to make bigger batches? and can you substitute the jam with a hershey kiss? thanks so much
This is the recipe I’ve searched years for–THANK YOU!
Can’t the internet be Wonderful?!