Thick, fluffy and melt in your mouth good, these Heart Thumbprint cookies are a simple, yet delicious dessert. Perfect for serving up at Valentine's Day, but easy and tasty enough for any occasion. You can have these ready in 45 minutes with only 6 ingredients.
These adorable and flavorful Heart Thumbprint cookies are a festive twist on the classic thumbprint cookie. The easy heart indentation in the center turns them into a perfect Valentine's Day dessert.
Adding jam to cookies gives them a sweet and fruity flavor much like these raspberry linzer cookies or these raspberry crumble cookies. It also makes them easy to customize by changing the jam or preserve flavor.
They are a similar recipe to these Hershey kiss sugar cookies which are also a thick, fluffy cookie base with something placed in the center.
🧁Why To Try This Recipe
Change the flavor - use a different flavored jam to change up the flavor super easily.
Fluffy & Thick - the texture of these cookies is fluffy, thick and melt-in your mouth good.
Festive - the bright jam color and heart shape makes them a festive addition to parties and celebrations.
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📋Ingredients
- Raspberry Preserves
- Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Almond Extract
- 2 eggs - 1 yolk only
- Butter - softened
See recipe card for quantities.
📖Substitutions & Variations
Try out these variations to make these cookies exactly what you are looking for.
- Change the filling - we used raspberry preserves, but you can fill these with anything you like. Try: Cherry or strawberry preserves, nutella, apple butter or curd just to name a few.
- Make them colorful - add a drop or two of food coloring to the dough if you want to give the cookie base a color.
- Change the flavor - instead of almond extract you can use peppermint extract, lemon extract or any other flavor you want.
Like heart shaped treats? Try these heart shaped chocolate chip cookies too.
⏲️Instructions
Follow along with these step-by-step instructions and process shots to easily recreate these cookies for yourself.
Step one: preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease the cookie sheet if needed.
Step two: Add softened butter and sugar to the bowl and cream until smooth. Using medium high speed this takes about 2 - 3 minutes.
Step three: Add egg, egg yolk and almond extract.
Step four: Mix dough on medium speed until well combined.
Step five: Slowly add in flour while mixing on low speed. Continue mixing until well combined.
Step six: Scoop out 1.5 tablespoon balls of dough and place them on parchment paper or the cookie sheet a few inches apart. Use your pinky, thumb or the back of a small spoon make an indentation in the enter of each cookie in the shape of a heart.
Pop dough into the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to chill to help decrease the spread during baking.
Step seven: Pop the cookies in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and fill the center with raspberry preserves.
Put them back in the oven for 5 more minutes.
Hint: remove cookies from oven before they turn brown, they will continue to cook and firm up as they cool.
⭐Recipe Tips for Success
- Use the right filling: you want a filling that is not too watery so that it will sit firmly in the heart indentations you make. A thick jam or preserves work well.
- Keep their shape: to make sure they keep their thick shape and heart indentation, make sure to chill for 30 minutes before baking.
- Proper mixing: make sure your butter is softened properly (60 mins at room temp; 30 mins at room temp cut into chunks; 15 sec intervals 2 times in microwave) so that it mixes in well. Do not overmix ingredients, just until well combined. This will help dough from spreading when baked.
- Thick dough: this dough is super thick, use a paddle attachment on your mixer instead of a whisk.
Storage
Cookies: can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 - 4 days or frozen for 6 months.
Dough: can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 days or frozen for 3 months.
Heart Thumbprint Cookie FAQs
Using your thumb, pinky or back of a small spoon, press down in the center on a slight diagonal. Then, starting at the bottom of your first print press down again, but at a slight diagonal in the other direction.
Several things can cause these cookies to spread including overmixing, not mixing well enough and having dough that is not cold enough when put into the oven to bake.
Heart Thumbprint Cookies
Equipment
- Stand or Hand Mixer
- Spoon
- measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- cookie sheet
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- .75 Cups Butter softened
- .75 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Almond Extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg Yolk
- 2.5 Cups Flour
- Raspberry Preserves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the cookie sheet if necessary.
- Add .75 Cups of softened butter and .75 cups of granulated sugar to the mixing bowl. Cream on high until smooth. This takes 2 - 3 minutes.
- Add 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of almond extract to the bowl and mix on medium speed until well combined.
- Slowly add 2.5 cups of flour into the bowl while mixing on low speed. Continue mixing until well combined.
- Scoop out 1 - 1.5 tablespoon balls of dough and roll them with your hands. Place them a few inches apart on the cookie sheet or parchment paper.
- Use your thumb, pinky or back of a small spoon to make the heart indentation in the center. Press down at a diagonal, then starting at the bottom press down at a diagonal in the other direction.
- Pop the cookies into the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes before baking to decrease spread.
- Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and fill the indents of each cookie with raspberry preserves (or your filling of choice).
- Put them back in the oven for 5 more minutes. Cookies should be firm, but not browned. They will continue to cook as they cool.
- Allow them to cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet.
Notes
- Use the right filling: you want a filling that is not too watery so that it will sit firmly in the heart indentations you make. A thick jam or preserves work well.
- Keep their shape: to make sure they keep their thick shape and heart indentation, make sure to chill for 30 minutes before baking.
- Proper mixing: make sure your butter is softened properly (60 mins at room temp; 30 mins at room temp cut into chunks; 15 sec intervals 2 times in microwave) so that it mixes in well. Do not overmix ingredients, just until well combined. This will help dough from spreading when baked.
- Thick dough: this dough is super thick, use a paddle attachment on your mixer instead of a whisk.
- Flavor options: change the flavor by using different fillings like cherry or strawberry preserves, nutella, chocolate, apple butter.
- Baked cookies - keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 - 4 days. Or freeze for up to 6 months.
- Dough - keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 - 3 days. Or, freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition information provided is just an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
