These are my new favorite Holiday cookies and they will be added to next year's Christmas Cookie list. I ended up making two batches because the first time the cookies spread out and they aren't supposed to. The reason that happened was because I didn't let the cookies chill in the fridge for an hour. I didn't read the instructions well and wanted to put the short bread cookie dough in the oven right away. Major mistake on my part, oops! You live and learn.

That is probably the major key to getting this cookie right. Leave the dough in the fridge for an hour and keep the dough cool while making these. The dough is a little bit crumbly and hard to work with but you can work with it enough to get the cookie shaped into a 1 inch ball. They still taste the same even if they do spread out, but they aren't as pretty. 🙂
Recipe Tips and Tricks
Don’t like raspberry jam? Try apricot, fig, orange marmalade, strawberry, or whatever you like.
Sub vanilla extract for almond extract.
Glaze optional.
How to Make Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In another medium bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add milk and almond extract; beat well.
- Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture until combined; cover bowl and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray.
- Roll level tablespoons of dough into 32 balls; place about 1-inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Press an indentation into center of each ball using your thumb. Using a small spoon, fill indentations with jam.
- Bake until bottoms of cookies turn golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheets for 1 or 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For icing, in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon water and 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract. Add enough of the remaining water to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle cookies with icing.
- Yields 1 cookie per serving.

Other Recipes to Try
If you’ve tried this Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out. Snap a picture and upload it to share on Pinterest or Instagram! Make sure to tag me in the photo.
Print
Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
- Yield: 32 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup of whole milk
- 1 tsp almond extract
- ⅓ cup reduced sugar raspberry jam
- Powdered Sugar Glaze (Optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 to 4 teaspoons water
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In another medium bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add milk and almond extract; beat well.
- Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture until combined; cover bowl and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray.
- Roll level tablespoons of dough into 32 balls; place about 1-inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Press an indentation into center of each ball using your thumb. Using a small spoon, fill indentations with jam.
- Bake until bottoms of cookies turn golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheets for 1 or 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For icing, in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon water and 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract. Add enough of the remaining water to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle cookies with icing.
- Yields 1 cookie per serving.
Notes
myWW points: Blue: 3; Green 3; Purple 3
Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Category: Medium
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 133
- Sugar: 15g
- Fat: 2g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 26g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
Keywords: thumbprint cookies
Dina says
these are a classic cookie. yum!