Thumbprint Shortbread Cookies Recipes

RASPBERRY AND ALMOND SHORTBREAD THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with preserves.
• Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies.

SHORTBREAD JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven 375 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat. Set aside.
• In a small bowl add the egg yolk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Beat with a fork until combined.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the yolk mixture and beat to combine, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the salt and flour and mix until the dough comes together.
• Using a tablespoon scoop, scoop out a ball of dough and place it on the sheet. Place the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart. Use your thumb or a rounded measuring spoon to make an indent in the center of the cookies. Press gently with your thumb until the indent in the cookie ball is about an inch across, repeat this step with each cookie dough ball.
• Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of jam to each indent. Put the prepared cookie sheets in the fridge and let the cookies chill for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the bottom edges start to brown. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes. Remove and let them finish cooling on a wire rack. Store extra cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

SHORTBREAD HERSHEY KISS COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar together with either a hand or stand mixer until thoroughly combined.
• Sift flour and cornstarch together and stir in salt. Be sure that when you measure the flour and cornstarch you use the spoon and level method - stir the flour or cornstarch with a spoon and then spoon it into your measuring cup and a bit over. Do not pack it in. Then use a knife or the handle of the spoon to level off the top. Remove a couple of spoonfuls after measuring the cornstarch for a scant cup. If you don't measure this way, you may use too much flour and end up with dry and crumbly cookies.
• Add flour mixture and vanilla to sugar/butter and mix on medium to high speed until thoroughly combined. This will take a few minutes as you are making a mixture similar to pie crust and the butter needs time to be cut into the flour. If it seems to remain just too crumbly after several minutes, you can add a couple more tablespoons of butter. Keep mixing the dough until it comes together as it should not be crumbly.
• Form dough into a ball/disc, as you would pie crust, and wrap with plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or overnight. Preheat oven to 325°F if making the same day.
• Take heaping teaspoonfuls of dough and roll into balls with hands lightly dusted with powdered sugar. If dough starts to melt in your hands, place back in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Place cookie balls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat about 1 inch apart.
• At this point you can take a small clean glass and dip the bottom in powered sugar and flatten each cookie or use your thumb to create a crater that you press the kiss into later. Both seemed to work equally well for me, though I preferred the look of the thumb-pressed cookies more for this application. Note that these cookies will not rise or expand very much.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges have just a very slight golden tinge. Check at around 10-12 minutes if your oven runs really hot. These are not cookies you want to get brown.
• Remove sheets from oven and allow to cool for a minute. Then immediately place an unwrapped Hershey Kiss into the center of each cookie, pressing down lightly.
• Allow to cool completely and enjoy. Cookies can be stored at room temperature in air-tight container for up to 3 day. Unbaked dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days (wrap tightly so it doesn't dry out) or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

THUMBPRINT SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Mix in the flour and chopped pecans. Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place them 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press a thumb or finger deeply into the center of each cookie.
• Bake for 9 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges are lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Fill each depression in the cookies with a dab of chocolate frosting. Let the icing set, preferably overnight.

THUMBPRINT COOKIES {RASPBERRY ALMOND SHORTBREAD}

Steps:

• For the cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). In a mixing bowl whisk together flour and salt, set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together butter and sugar until combined (it will take a minute or two since the butter is cold).
• Mix in almond extract then add in flour blend until mixture comes together (it will take a bit of mixing since the butter is cold, so be patient, it will seem really dry and crumbly at first).
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls, about 1 Tbsp each, and place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Make a small indentation with thumb or forefinger in each cookie (large enough to fit 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of jam). Fill each with 1/4 - 1/2 tsp jam.
• Chill in refrigerator 20 minutes (or freezer for 10 minutes). Bake in preheated oven 14 - 18 minutes.
• Cool several minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• For the glaze: Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl, adding enough water to reach desired consistency.
• Pour or spoon mixture into a sandwich size resealable bag, cut a small tip from one corner and drizzle over cool cookies. Let set at room temperature then store in an airtight container.