These Strawberry Jam Cookies are made with a simple shortbread cookie dough, then filled with homemade jam. They're baked until lightly golden, melt in your mouth, and are an absolute hit during the holiday season.
Jam-filled thumbprint cookies are a classic in our home around the holidays! Once you give them a try, they'll be your new favorite family cookie recipe.
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Perfect for the holidays. These thumbprint cookies with strawberry jam are the ideal, festive cookie for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's day. You may even like serving these cookies for the Fourth of July or Easter. If you're a fan of these cookies, you will also enjoy my White Chocolate Cranberry Scones.
- Easy to make. The shortbread cookie dough is made with 5 simple ingredients, all of which are probably on hand in your kitchen pantry. Plus, this thumbprint cookie recipe does not require chilling the dough, cutting down on prep time considerably.
- Naturally vegan. These thumbprint cookies are made without eggs, making these strawberry jam cookies vegan-friendly.
🥘Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flour - I have only tested these strawberry jam cookies using all-purpose flour and cannot recommend an alternative flour.
- Coconut oil - Instead of unsalted butter, this shortbread cookie dough is made using coconut oil. This prevents the strawberry jam cookies from overspreading and allows you to skip chilling the dough.
- Frozen fruit - I used a berry mix of strawberries and raspberries for a greater depth of flavor. Feel free to use fresh or frozen fruit here. Frozen fruit will take slightly longer to break down, but works equally well.
- Maple syrup - Maple syrup is added to the fruit jam to sweeten it and help make it the perfect, thick jam-like consistency.
- Baking powder - These strawberry jam cookies do not spread much, but the baking powder does help give them a bit of a lift and makes them extra soft and puffy.
See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.
📖Variations
- Use a different mix of fruit. Truly any fruit will work well in homemade jam. You can even use just strawberries or just raspberries. Apricots, peaches, or nectarines are all good choices too.
- Maple syrup substitutions: Raw honey is my favorite alternative to maple syrup, but you can use agave nectar or any liquid sweetener.
- Coconut oil substitutions: If you do not like the flavor of coconut, use refined coconut oil. This makes the coconut flavorless.
- How to make these cookies in the stand mixer: If you'd prefer to use your stand mixer to make the shortbread cookie dough, add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer bowl, then slowly pour in the wet ingredients. Use the paddle attachment, then mix together on low until just combined.
🔪Instructions
- Make the berry jam. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the strawberries, raspberries, and liquid sweetener of your choice. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes, or until the berries break down and soften into a jam-like consistency. Turn off the heat and set aside while you prepare the shortbread cookie dough.
- Prepare the shortbread cookie dough. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the liquid sweetener and melted coconut oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form the dough. The cookie dough will appear crumbly at first but will continue to moisten and come together as you continue to combine.
- Form, roll, and "print" the cookies. Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop, roll the cookie dough into 1-tablespoon dough balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using your thumb, lightly press an indentation into the center of the dough. Repeat with the remaining dough. You should be able to make about 12 thumbprint cookies.
- Fill the cookies with jam. Spoon ½ teaspoon of the jam into the center of each cookie. Be careful not to overfill!
- Bake. Bake the strawberry jam cookies for 12-15 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies are slightly golden, but still light and soft.
- Cool completely, then serve. Remove from the oven, cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer the strawberry jam cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy!
💭Recipe FAQs
The key to thick jam for thumbprint cookies is to allow it to sufficiently cool. The longer the jam cools, the thicker it will be. If you prefer extra thick jam, make it the day before and refrigerate overnight before using.
Shortbread cookies with jam can be frozen after baking for up to 3 months. Before adding to a freezer-safe bag or container, allow the cookies to cool completely at room temperature on a wire cooling wrack. You can also flash freeze the shortbread cookies by placing the cooling rack or baking sheet of cookies in the freezer to freeze solid before transferring them to a freezer-safe container. This will help prevent the thumbprint cookies from sticking together.
Jam-filled cookies can be refrigerated but they don't need to be. Refrigeration will make the cookies last longer (about 1 week), but doing so will also make them dense. Instead, I'd recommend storing your baked thumbprint cookies at room temperature for about 3 days.
If you are baking these thumbprint cookies for a party, I'd recommend baking them no earlier than 24 hours in advance. This will ensure your shortbread cookies are still soft and melt in your mouth!
👩🏻🍳Baking Tips
- Use room-temperature maple syrup. If your maple syrup was stored in the refrigerator, allow it to come to room temperature for about 1 hour. If the maple syrup is too cold, the melted coconut oil will immediately harden when added to the bowl and make your strawberry jam cookies oily.
- Avoid over-baking. Strawberry jam cookies are meant to be soft. When they are lightly golden on the edges, remove them from the oven. If you bake them for too long, they will become hard and crumbly.
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Strawberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
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Ingredients
Jam
- ¼ cup fresh or frozen strawberries
- ¼ cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup
Instructions
Jam
- Add jam ingredients to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and begin making cookies.
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine melted coconut oil and honey or maple syrup.
- Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. The mixture will be crumbly but will come together as you continue mixing.
- Use an ice cream or cookie scoop to measure out about one tablespoon of the dough. Roll into a ball, place on the baking sheet and using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of the dough. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Spoon ½ teaspoon of the jam into the center of each cookie. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the bottom of the cookies are slightly browned. Remove from the oven, cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. Enjoy!
Sarah's Tips
- Use room-temperature maple syrup. If your maple syrup was stored in the refrigerator, allow it to come to room temperature for about 1 hour. If the maple syrup is too cold, the melted coconut oil will immediately harden when added to the bowl and make your strawberry jam cookies oily.
- Avoid over-baking. Strawberry jam cookies are meant to be soft. When they are lightly golden on the edges, remove them from the oven. If you bake them for too long, they will become hard and crumbly.
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