Oh my friends, its cookie season! Today I’m sharing with you a recipe for these incredibly delicious Lemon Thumbprint Cookies with Strawberry Jam! A simple, shortbread like, cookie with lemon zest brightness. The cookies are topped with jam, I went with strawberry because that’s my boys favorite. You are going to LOVE these cookies!
Our first Friday of December- how did that happen so quickly? Today is a special Friday here on the blog- its our Freaky Friday Virtual Cookie Exchange! Michaela of An Affair From The Heart is not only an amazing food blogger, she is the one that organizes us bloggers and these recipe swap events several times a year. I have to say, the cookie exchange is probably my favorite one of the year. We are all assigned a blog to showcase by choosing a recipe of theirs to bake up and share. I was assigned the insanely talented Sheila of Life, Love & Good Food .
Michaela puts an incredible amount of time and effort into organizing these blog hop recipe swaps and I sure appreciate her efforts & support. Her food blog, An Affair From The Heart, has some of the most delicious recipes you will find! you’ve got to try her Chocolate Orange Fudge, Potatoes Au Gratin, Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies and her Glazed Smoked Ham!
Lets get to these Lemon Thumbprint Cookies with Strawberry Jam shall we?! While browsing Sheilas blog, Life, Love & Good Food, for a special cookie to share as part of our Virtual Cooke Exchange I was immediately drawn to these. There were SO many yummy sweet treats to choose from, such as, Gingerbread Gems, Caramel Pecan Thumbprint Cookies and her Cherry Biscotti. I think what drew me to these was that touch of lemon in the cookie, I really love the brightness that lemon zest adds to a sweet treat. In Sheilas recipe she uses raspberry jam which is a perfect combo with lemon but ya know, my kiddos rule the house so I went with strawberry.
The dough is really really simple! Butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt are mixed until light and fluffy. You’ll then add the egg and mix until well combined. The flour goes in last. Using a cookie scoop you’ll scoop out these perfect two-bite sized cookies and roll them into smooth balls with your hands. Place them evenly spaced out onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Using the tip of your finger you’ll create a little crater in each of the cookies. This will be where you’ll add the jam after the cookie has baked and cooled. Bake your cookies at 350 degrees for about 14 minutes. Allow them to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
While the cookies are baking you can make the simple glaze- powdered sugar, milk and vanilla or almond extract. The recipe for the glaze makes a bit more then needed for these cookies but you can keep it covered in the fridge for other holiday cookies. Keep covered with plastic wrap while waiting to use the glaze so it doesn’t form a hardened top.
Once the cookies are cooled you can go ahead and fill those thumbprints with jam. The glaze is last and you’ll want to make sure to keep the cookies on the cooling rack but place the cooling rack onto your parchment lined baking sheet so that it will collect the drips.
For the glaze, I simply used my mini whisk to give a rustic drizzle going over the cookies from to back and side to side. You can use a piping bag or plastic zip bag as well. Allow the cookies to sit out until the glaze hardens up on there and then you can place them in an air tight container for keeping. I place a piece of parchment between layers to prevent the cookies from sticking to each other.
- For the Cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup strawberry jam
- For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt together until light and fluffier. Add in the egg and mix until combined.
- Stir in the flour until the dough begins to hold together.
- Using a small cookie scoop, measure out the cookies, roll the cookie dough into a smooth ball, and place onto the baking sheets 2 inches apart. Use your fingertip (for smaller cookies) or thumb (for larger cookies) to put an indentation into the center of each.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before moving from baking sheet to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Fill each cookie indentation with raspberry jam, using about ¼ teaspoon for smaller cookies or ½ teaspoon for larger cookies.
- You can make the glaze while the cookies are baking or cooling. In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, almond or vanilla extract, and milk until smooth and the desired consistency.
- Drizzle over the jam-filled cooled cookies. Allow the glaze to set before storing the cookies in an air-tight container.
Take a look at all of our 2021 Freaky Friday Holiday Cookie Exchange Recipes:
-
- An Affair from the Heart – Candy Cane Puppy Chow
- The Carefree Kitchen – Christmas Linzer Cookies
- Devour Dinner – Peppermint Meltaways
- Family Around the Table – Chocolate Overload Cookies
- The Foodie Affair – Easy Pecan Pie Crust Cookie Recipe
- Fresh April Flours – Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The Fresh Cooky – White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Hostess at Heart – Crumbl Cookie Recipe
- House of Nash Eats – Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog – Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- Lemoine Family Kitchen – Lemon Thumbprint Cookies with Strawberry Jam
- Lemon Blossoms – Cranberry Orange Biscotti
- Life Currents – Chocolate Mint Rugelach
- Life, Love & Good Food – White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Soulfully Made – Polar Bear Paw Cookies
Sheila Thigpen
Angela, your thumbprints look perfectly delicious! It’s one of my family’s favorites and I love that you used strawberry jam! There are so many options — blackberry, raspberry, orange marmalade, and even apricot jam! Thanks for the kind words, my virtual friend!
Michaela Kenkel
Angela – thank you for your sweet words! I am so happy that you have been a part of our group since the very beginning! These cookies sound amazing – because anything lemon is well — AMAZING! I hope that you and your boys all have a great holiday!! hugs!!
Kathy
those cookies remind me of my childhood 🙂 they look so good!
Debi
Thumbprints are always a great cookie to add to my cookie trays. These ones are so nice with the lemon flavor. They perk up the whole tray!
Sandra Shaffer
It’s been awhile since I’ve made thumbprint cookies and I don’t remember adding lemon, but I love that! Balances the sweetness nicely. Beautiful job here, Angela!
Kathleen Pope
Ooh Angela, these are gorgeous, I know why you choose them! Perfect addition to any cookie tray!
Sue Ringsdorf
That little bit of lemon in these thumbprints really stands out in a GOOD way! Delicious cookies, and my family gobbled them up!
Jill Baird
These are cookie perfection! I love how the icing looks like plaid! So cute! I can’t wait to try them for the holidays!
Kathryn
These look so good and I love the lemon additon! I So classic and delicious…I can’t wait to try these!
Kathryn
These look so good and I love the lemon additon! I So classic and delicious…I can’t wait to try these!!
Julie Menghini
These little cookies are perfect for Christmas. They’re soft, tender, and delicious and really dress up my cookie platter at Christmas.
Erin
This is just the BEST flavor combination! I don’t know if I would have considered serving them at the holidays until I saw your post, but now, I’m really excited for the vibrant citrus and sweet strawberry on my cookie plate!
Lynn @ Fresh April Flours
That drizzle is EVERYTHING! I’m totally saving this as a reminder to make my thumbprints lemon next time!
Jennifer
This recipe is awesome! Every time I have made thumbprints they always crack on the outside. Imagine my excitement when I made these and they came out so perfect!!
Nikki Lee
Beautiful!
Ellen
Is it even Christmas without thumbprints? I love this flavor pairing and they are so pretty on a cookie tray.
Rebecca
Yum! These are always a favorite cookie recipe.
Amy Nash
Thumbprints are a classic cookie, but this flavor adaptation is new to me and I’m not mad about it one bit! They were absolutely delicious! My glaze wasn’t as pretty as your pics but it sure tasted good!
Mary
Can you add the jam/preserves to the cookies before you put them in to bake?
Angela LeMoine
While I’ve not tried it with this recipe, I’ve seen similar thumbprints that are baked with the jam.