The absolute cutest way to make heart thumbprints is like this! Instead of using your thumb, use the side of your pinky to make a cute heart-shaped indent My Strawberry Jam Cookies are not only adorable, they're also delicious! Melt-in-your-mouth shortbread base with a sticky, sweet jelly center. These are cute as Valentine's Day cookies, but I make them all year!
I realize these should have been on my Valentine's Day menu, but I'm only sharing them today. We normally stick to chocolate desserts (like caramel chocolate chip cookies) in February, so these heart thumbprints really deserve centerstage today.
The base is a soft, tender shortbread cookie that only contains a few basic ingredients. The only catch with this recipe is that you cannot skip the chill time. Because we want to preserve the heart shapes in the centers, after the cookies are shaped and filled with jam, they need to hit the fridge.
How to Make Strawberry Jam Cookies
If you can make space in your fridge for a cookie sheet, then you can have these adorable strawberry jam cookies with heart centers!
After making the dough, it might seem a bit dry, but before you add any extra liquid, stop! Gather the dough in your hand and squeeze it a few times. If it sticks together using just the heat of your hands, it's perfect. If it is overly dry, you can drizzle in some milk, one teaspoon at a time (yes, really) until it comes together, but be very careful doing this.
Scoop and roll the dough into balls, and then dip your pinky in flour and use it to indent two sides of a heart in each cookie ball. Fill the indent generously with jelly, and then refrigerate for one hour before baking. Do not skip this step, or the cookies will spread too much on the pan. We will take other precautions to prevent overly spreading cookies, too, such as baking on a silicone mat.
Should we call these strawberry jam cookies 'pinky-prints' instead of thumbprints?
The Ingredients
- Butter. One stick of unsalted butter that has been softened at room temperature for about an hour. The best way to soften butter is to slice it up and let it rest at room temperature. It's ready when its soft enough to make a fingerprint in it, but not overly soft so that your finger presses all the way through easily. We're using unsalted butter and then adding ¼ teaspoon of salt to the flour.
- Granulated Sugar. Just ¼ cup of granulated sugar for this dough, because the recipe makes just 20 cookies. Also keep in mind that the jelly brings quite a bit of sweetness to each cookie.
- Egg. We need one large egg for these strawberry jam cookies.
- Vanilla Extract. We always bake with real pure vanilla extract.
- Almond Extract. This is entirely optional, but almond extract brings an interesting note to this dough. It reminds me of the flavor of wedding cake.
- All-Purpose Flour. Do not use anything but regular all-purpose flour for this recipe.
- Strawberry Jelly. It's best to use jelly instead of jam because jam has chunks of strawberries in it. A smoother jelly is better for making very distinct heart shapes. However, you can use my small batch strawberry jam recipe if you smash it very well.
The Instructions
In a large bowl, add the softened butter, and then beat with an electric mixer on HIGH until light and fluffy. The butter will change color from yellow to a much paler yellow after about 1-2 minutes.
After a few minutes, stream in the sugar while beating. Slowly streaming in the sugar helps the strawberry jam cookies be as tender and fluffy as they can be.
Then, add the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract, and beat just until combined very well.
Finally, evenly sprinkle the flour and salt on the dough, and then beat just until no streaks of flour remain. Be careful not over-beat the dough. It might be a bit crumbly, but the heat of your hands will bring it together.
Scoop out 2 teaspoons of dough, and use your hands to roll it into a ball, and place it on a baking sheet, evenly spaced. This recipe makes 20 cookies, so make 4 rows with 5 cookies each.
Next, dip your pinky finger in flour, and lay it sideways on each dough ball to make half of a heart. Repeat with more flour to make the other half of the heart. See photos for reference. Use a ¼ teaspoon measure to place jelly on each side of the heart, for a total of ½ teaspoon of jelly per heart. Place the strawberry jam cookies in the fridge for one hour to chill before baking.
Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Check on the cookies, and remove them from the oven when the edges of the bottom of the cookies are just starting to turn golden brown. Let them cool on the baking pan completely. Once cool, remove the cookies from the pan. Shortbread cookies are delicate when warm, so this is why I recommend cooling them on the pan.
Tips and Tricks for Strawberry Jam Cookies:
While my absolute favorite brand of jam is Bonne Maman, I really recommend using a strawberry jelly for these cookies. Anything that is bright red and lacks large chunks of strawberries so that the heart shape stays clear.
You can absolutely combine ¾ cup of powdered sugar with a few teaspoons of milk and whisk to make a pourable glaze. In this case, I would dip a fork in it and use it to drizzle to make long vertical lines of icing on these thumbprints.
Other adorable cookies you would love:
- Sugar Cookie Bars with gummy hearts.
- Caramel Brownies with melty chocolate hearts.
- Ritz Cracker Chocolate Heart Cookies dipped in crushed crackers.
- Lemon Shortbread Cookies with icing.
Strawberry Jam Cookies
Cute red heart strawberry jam cookies with thumbprint centers.
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter, softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 teaspoons strawberry jelly
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat (this helps the shortbread cookies not spread while baking), and make room in your fridge for a cookie sheet.
- In a large bowl, add the softened butter and beat with an electric mixer on HIGH until light and fluffy. The butter will change color from yellow to a much paler yellow.
- Next, stream in the sugar while beating.
- Then, beat in the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract very well.
- Finally, evenly sprinkle the flour and salt on the dough. Mix the dough with the electric mixer just until it comes together. It might be a bit crumbly, but the heat of your hands will bring it together.
Scoop out 2 teaspoons of dough, and use your hands to roll it into a ball, and place it on a baking sheet. - When all of the cookies are roll out, dip your pinky in flour, and lay it sideways on each dough ball to make half of a heart. Repeat with more flour to make the other half of the heart. See photos for reference.
- Use a ¼ teaspoon measure to place jelly on each side of the heart, for a total of ½ teaspoon of jelly per heart.
- Place the cookies in the fridge for one hour to chill before baking. Do not skip this step!
- Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Check on the cookies, and remove them from the oven when the edges of the bottom of the cookies is just starting to turn golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking pan completely. Once cool, remove the cookies from the pan. Shortbread cookies are delicate when warm, so this is why I recommend cooling them on the pan.
Notes
Butter: The best way to soften butter is to slice it up and let it rest at room temperature. It's ready when its soft enough to make a fingerprint in it, but not overly soft so that your finger presses all the way through easily.
Strawberry Jelly: Use a smooth, runny strawberry jelly for this recipe. I don't recommend using jam, because it contains pieces of fruit, which might distort the heart shape.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 83Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 67mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 4gProtein: 1g
Christy says
Hi Christina! Is it supposed to be granulated sugar or powdered sugar? I used granulated per the written recipe but my dough is suuuuper sticky. I watched the video after I started second guessing, and it looked like maybe you used powdered sugar.