I’ve never met a thumbprint cookie I didn’t love, but these strawberry almond thumbprint cookies are a surprisingly tasty treat. The combination of strawberry and almond flavors elevate the everyday thumbprint to something really special.
These strawberry almond cookies were a bit of an experiment that I made over Christmas break. I had baked batches of everyone’s favourite cookies, but when I looked at what I had, I realized that we’re a pretty basic group and the combination of plain oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, and my soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies were pretty uninspired looking on a cookie tray. I decided we needed a little pop of color and I was craving something almond flavored, and that’s how these cookies came to be. A few weeks after Christmas, I found myself dreaming of these buttery cookies again and I realized that they’re also the perfect little Valentine’s Day baking project, so I made another batch to share with you today. I still have quite a few cookies leftover in the freezer from the holidays, so now I have a bit of a cookie overload on my hands, but I regret nothing. 🙂
Ingredients Needed for the Strawberry Almond Thumbprints
- Good quality strawberry jam
- Almond extract
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking soda
- Softened unsalted butter (or a plant-based substitute)
- Salt
- Eggs (or a plant-based substitute
- Almond glaze for drizzling, if desired
There’s a good chance that you probably have all or most of the ingredients in your house already, and that’s what makes this a great cookie recipe. It uses basic ingredients that come together to create something a little special. If you don’t have almond flavoring in your pantry at the moment, vanilla extract is a very suitable substitute.
Try this recipe next: Cardamom Fig Thumbprint Cookies
Method for Preparing the Strawberry Almond Cookies
To mix the dough, start out by combining the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the two ingredients together until the mixture is melted together, light, and fluffy, then reduce the mixer speed and add in the eggs and almond extract.
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk, then slowly add them to the creamed mixture, a small amount at a time with a tablespoon and keep stirring until every comes together as a smooth ball of dough. The dough should be quite soft, but will be easy to work with. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough down from the sides of the mixer bowl so you don’t waste anything.
I like these cookies as a more petite treat, so I didn’t use my usual medium cookie scoop. Instead, I scooped out balls of dough with my melon baller, but you can use a small cookie scoop if you have one. As you can see, the melon baller method for scooping cookie dough isn’t quite perfect and some of my cookies ended up a bit bigger.
Roll the scooped out dough into a small ball and place it on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet, or a cookie sheet lined with a silpat. Once you’ve filled the baking tray, use the handle of spoon to make a small indent in the middle of each cookie. Fill each thumbprint indent with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam, then place the whole tray in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes to reduce spreading. You can also just go ahead and bake them right away without them being chilled if you’re short on time and they’ll still be cute. 🙂
More cookie recipes perfect for drizzling: Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
The Finishing Touches
After the baking time is up, allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before moving on to the glazing or icing step. Place a sheet of wax paper or parchment under your wire rack to catch drips, prepare your glaze, then drizzle the glaze evenly over the cookies in a zig-zag motion using a teaspoon. Allow the glaze to set for an hour or so before moving the cookies or attempting to place them in a container.
Fan favourite cookie recipe to try next: Easy Cake Mix Pudding Cookies
When I’m storing cookies like these, whether just at room temperature or in the freezer, I like to place a sheet of wax paper between my cookie layers to keep the glaze looking pretty.
Here’s the full printable recipe.
Find the printable recipe for the almond glaze here: 3 Ingredient Almond Glaze
I've never met a thumbprint cookie I didn't love, but these strawberry almond thumbprint cookies are a surprisingly tasty treat. The combination of strawberry and almond flavours elevate the everyday thumbprint to something really special.
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 cup Granulated white sugar
- 1 cup Butter or plant-based substitute softened
- 1 tsp Almond extract
- 1 Egg or plant-based substitute
- 1/2 cup Good quality strawberry jam
- Almond glaze for drizzling optional
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and almond extract and continue mixing until everything is well-combined.
-
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cardamom, and mix to distribute all ingredients evenly. With the mixer running on low, add in the flour mixture a little at a time and continue mixing until a smooth dough comes together.
-
Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough out and roll it into a smooth ball. Place on a silpat-lined cookie sheet. Continue scooping and rolling until your baking sheet is filled. Press your thumb or the handle of a wooden spoon down into the centre of each cookie. Fill the thumbprint in each cookie with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam. Chill the cookies for about 30 minutes, if desired, to prevent spreading, or bake immediately.
-
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes at 350°, rotating the tray halfway through. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Cookies will be very soft after baking, but will firm up as they cool. When the cookies are fully cooled, drizzle with almond glaze and allow to continue sitting on the wire rack until the glaze is fully set.
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.