I never knew how easy it was to make thumbprint cookies till this past weekend.
A couple weeks ago, I went with my friends, Isabelle and Rosa, to Kitten and the Bear. While I’d been several times, KATB is a place I would always happily return to! It’s the cutest, little artisanal jam and preserve shop. With only 2 tables in the whole place, you can enjoy their jam and tea service with a friend or two in an intimate atmosphere. It’s also owned by a husband and wife duo who are super passionate about what they do, and that’s always something I appreciate.
Since I don’t have a sweet tooth, whenever I go to KATB, I’m usually more interested in their buttermilk scones and clotted cream (which are made in-house, along with their artisanal jams). Mmmmm! On this visit, the folks at KATB were kind enough to send each of us home with a jam of our choice. I chose the Niagara Golden Plum & Lavender because it looked yummy and I’ve literally been obsessed with lavender all summer, as you might have guessed from one of my previous blog posts.
Knowing I don’t have a big sweet tooth, I didn’t just want to let the jam sit in my cupboard. I wanted to incorporate it into a recipe for the blog in some way. So, I asked my followers on Instagram what I should make with the jam and a few people responded with thumbprint cookies. Not gonna lie, I’ve never baked cookies (let alone, thumbprint cookies) in my life before, but I was willing to take on the challenge and see how the cookie crumbles 😉 !
Naturally, I did some research online. Fun fact: they’re called “Thumbprint cookies” in North America, but they’re actually a Swedish dessert named “Hallongrotta”, which means “Raspberry cave” (thanks, Wikipedia!). I looked at about 6 different thumbprint cookie recipes and figured out what I’d need to do. I also had my husband to help with this one, which made putting this recipe together a lot more fun!
Oh, and we also don’t have a stand mixer or a hand mixer (told you, I’m not a baker!). So, we actually just whipped everything up by hand – it adds a lot more love to the cookies that way, right?! We at least have some more arm muscle as a result!
So, long story short, if I can make these thumbprint cookies turn out on my first (well, second) try, then anyone can! Also, if you don’t have Niagara Golden Plum & Lavender jam to make these cookies, you could substitute with any of your favourite jam.
I topped the cookies up with some more jam after baking. I also tried making some with cherry jam and formed a heart-shaped indentation.
Here is the recipe.
Thumbprint Cookies with Niagara Golden Plum & Lavender Jam
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups) which must be at room temperature
- 3 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp. kosher or sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup jam I used Niagara Golden Plum & Lavender, but you could use any jam of your choice
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sift the powdered sugar and add to bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. Add salt and room temperature butter. Mix until fluffy. Note: if you don't have a hand mixer or stand mixer, you could also mix by hand (I used both a whisk and spatula).
- Add yolk and the egg, one at a time, and continue mixing. Add vanilla extract.
- Gradually add 3 sifted cups of the cake flour. Continue to mix until incorporated well. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cake flour for rolling the dough balls.
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Using a teaspoon or your hands, form dough balls no bigger than 1 inch in diameter and place on baking trays. As the cookie batter is quite sticky, you'll want to add a pinch of cake flour, here and there, as you roll the dough balls. Note: it's very important to make the dough balls small, since the cookies will expand as they bake.
- Once all your dough balls are on the baking trays, using your thumb (or in my case, index finger), make a deep imprint in each and fill with jam. I found it easier to dip my finger into cold water before indenting each ball.
- Place trays in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Once your first batch is done, transfer cookies to a cooling rack and work on your next batch. This recipe yielded more than 45 cookies for me.
- Serve and enjoy!
How cute are the little heart ones!! Looks so good for someone who doesn’t bake – you’re a natural!