Writer by: Michelle R Dunlap
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This simple 6 ingredient cookie recipe always ranks top of everyone’s favorite. It’s perfectly balanced like butter and jam on a biscuit. I prefer using raspberry jam since it tends to be tart which help balance out the sweet.
These Raspberry Shortbread Thumbprint cookies take few ingredients in this recipe, and bonus, they are easy to make. This is one cookie you can’t find easily at the store, so it’s definitely a specialty cookie. My family looks forward to these delicious cookies at Christmas time every year. I make other thumbprint flavors, but the raspberry is the most requested. Great for the holidays.
Here is a quick video to watch to give you an idea on the steps and techniques in this recipe.
For the Easy Raspberry Shortbread Thumbprint cookie recipe, you will need these ingredients: (makes around 3 dzn)
- 1 cup Butter (softened)
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam
Ingredients for the cookie glaze:
- 1/2 cup powder sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon pur almond extract
- 1 to 2 teaspoon of milk (any %)
To get these cookies ready to make you will need to get out all the ingredients from above, also you will need a big 1/2 sheet size pan, parchment paper, cookie scoop 1 inch ball size, cookie spatula, rubber scraper, measuring cups and spoons, regular sheet pan with cooling rack, and a small bowl with fork. If you need some of my items on my list, I do most of my shopping through Amazon since there so reliable and highly recommend these products below. Just hit the picture for the link.
Directions:
Once you have everything you need, you can place the 1 cup of room temp butter to the mixing bowl and beat until smooth. If you don’t have a mixer, you can beat by hand. Then add your 2/3 cup of white sugar and 1/2 pure almond extract to the mixing bowl, mix on medium speed for just a minute until smooth.
Now you can add your 2 cups of flour to the mixing bowl, then mix on low till just combined. Scrape down bowl and mix for one more second. Place a sheet of plastic wrap down on the counter and dump the cookie dough out onto the plastic. Try to keep the cookie dough in as you fold the plastic over the top, then twist and mold into a ball as good as you can. As you can see, I barely made it work.
The Shortbread cookie dough really needs to chill for 1 hour before you bake. It really helps the dough rest for a tenderness and also helps with it not falling so flat during baking.
Now that your dough is rested and chilled, you can take your 1 inch cookie scoop and scoop dough onto parchment lined sheet pan. Place dough ball in your hand to roll into a circle ball better. Keep several inches of space between cookies on the sheet as you place them on the pan.
This is where the fun comes in with pressing your thumb in the middle of the cookie to create the “thumb” pocket for the jam to sit. kids like to help with this part of the recipe. If You’re making a big batch for gifts and you want your circle indentation to be perfect to hold the jam, you can use the end of a utensil of some sort. I use the wooden handle of my pasta cutter.
BIG STEP: Place cookie dough in the oven at 350 degrees for 7 minutes, then pull them back out of oven to make the indentation to the center of each cookie. Now you can fill with raspberry jam.
Now that the centers are filled with delicious jam, you place the cookies back in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes. They should look pale but golden on edges of the cookie to tell if they are done.
It’s time to let them cool for a second, and then you can place them on a wire rack to get ready for the Glaze topping. Grab a small bowl, fork, 1/2 cup of powder sugar, 1/8 teaspoon of pure almond extract, and 1-2 teaspoons of milk. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Drizzle glaze to get zig zag lines on the cookies. I usually get about 3 dozen cookies for this recipe.
Time to enjoy these delicious Raspberry Thumbprint cookies. If you love them like I do, you can make them as gifts for any occasion or gifts for the holidays. The best part about these cookies is that you can make them ahead of time and freeze them. I had mine in the freezer for over a month, and they were still delicious! I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you have any questions, I’ll answer in the comments below. Thanks you.
The Nautical Nook 
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