Description
These delightful Christmas Thumbprint Cookies feature crisp buttery outsides with soft interiors and are easily customizable with various toppings and fillings, making them perfect for festive cookie boxes.
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 such as coarse sugar, powdered sugar, finely chopped roasted nuts, or desiccated coconut)
- ½ cup seedless jam (or your preferred filling such as lemon curd, fruit curd, hard candies, Nutella, chocolates, Hershey kisses)
Instructions
- Mix butter and sugars: In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl to ensure even mixing.
- Add salt, egg, and vanilla: Incorporate the salt, egg, and vanilla extract into the butter and sugar mixture, beating well until light and fluffy again.
- Add dry ingredients: Sift the all-purpose flour and baking powder directly into the bowl. Fold the mixture gently until a uniform cookie dough forms.
- Divide and flavor dough: Remove half of the dough and place it in a separate bowl. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining dough and mix gently until fully incorporated.
- Form dough balls: Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out portions of vanilla and chocolate dough. Roll each portion between your hands into smooth, even balls.
- Coat dough balls: Roll the cookie dough balls in your chosen topping such as granulated sugar, coarse sugar, powdered sugar, chopped nuts, or desiccated coconut.
- Create indentations: Press down the center of each dough ball with your thumb or a measuring teaspoon to create space for filling. For a heart shape, press once and then again at a slight angle with your index finger.
- Fill cookies: Fill the indentations with your preferred jam or filling like seedless raspberry jam, lemon curd, or hard candies. For fillings such as Nutella or chocolates, add them after baking when cookies are warm.
- Arrange and bake: Place cookies on a parchment-lined or nonstick baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake at 355°F (180°C) for 10 minutes, careful not to overbake to keep them soft.
- Add final toppings and cool: Optionally top baked cookies with additional fillings like Nutella or Hershey kisses by pressing a teaspoon-sized indentation. Cool completely on a rack before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- The cookies have crisp edges with soft interiors and are wonderfully customizable with various toppings and fillings.
- No chill time is needed, making this recipe quick and convenient.
- These cookies remain soft for days and are sturdy enough for Christmas cookie boxes.
- Experiment with different flavor combinations using one batch of dough to create a festive cookie variety.
- For fillings like Nutella or chocolates, add them after baking while cookies are still warm to prevent melting during baking.
- You can use alternate toppings such as powdered sugar, chopped nuts, desiccated coconut, or coarse sugar to vary flavor and texture.
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
