You are looking for a small gift for a special occasion? Birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day, or maybe something for Valentine’s Day? How about some delicious Heart Thumbprint Cookies with jam? These small treats are the perfect sweet little gift for husbands, wives, children, grandparents, friends, neighbors, and enemies ;P They are just great. With my step-by-step instructions in the recipe, you will be able to make these cute little cookies without any problems.
I am a huge fan of simple and easy-to-prepare cookies. These here are really done in an instant. Well… more or less. Preparing the dough is super easy – you can use a hand mixer, pastry blender, or work with your hands and some elbow grease… although there is not that much kneading needed tbh ;) Give the dough some time in the fridge, so it does not stick to your hands when working with it, then shape little balls, press the hearts into the dough, and you are basically done – with a little bit of jam added, the cookies are ready to go into the oven.
The cookies are called “thumbprint cookies” but to be honest – I would not use thumbs to create the little hearts in the cookies ;) Thumbs are normally not the most “delicate” fingers out there. You will definitely get better results with your index finger or your little pinky. Ideally, two small prints placed diagonally to each other, form the small hearts, which can then be filled with jam. If you have problems creating a pointy tip for the hearts because your fingers are a bit too big (like mine), you can use a small spoon or something similar to get that pointy tip right ;)
The jam inside the hearts can bubble up during baking – I recommend not adding too much jam to the hearts. You want nice and clean-looking edges. You can add a bit more jam right after taking the cookies out of the oven while they are still hot. Just let them dry properly if you add the jam afterward, so nothing is sticky later on.
I was able to create 15 cookies with the amount of dough you get with the recipe. Subtract at least 2-3 cookies to make “quality testing” (very important!) ;) After that, you should have a dozen cookies for friends, family, and complete strangers to make everyone happy. Or… you keep the batch for yourself and can snack cookies for several days. One in the morning for breakfast, one after lunch, and one for dinner. I think that is pretty much what I did with these here ;)
Here are some more “real” thumbprint cookies, where the thumb should be used to get a little depression into your cookie ;)
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(15 cookies)
1 1/2 cup2 (200g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup (120g) butter
1 medium egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
some raspberry or cherry jam
(15 Kekse)
200g Mehl (Type 550)
60g Puderzucker
2 EL Speisestärke
120g Butter
1 Ei (M)
1/2 TL Vanille Extrakt
etwas Himbeer- oder Kirschmarmelade
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Mix flour, confectioners’ sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. Add the butter and cut into pea-sized pieces with a pastry blender*. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mix well and knead until you get a nice and smooth dough. Shape into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for about 1 hour (overnight is also ok).
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into 15 slices. Roll each dough slice into a ball and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Use a finger/thumb to make two indentions in the center of each dough ball. They should be connected at the bottom and resemble a heart. A small spoon helps here a lot to create the pointy tip of the heart. Fill the hearts with a little bit of jam and bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down on a wire rack. Store up to 7 days in an airtight container at room temperature
Tip: You might want to add less jam to the hearts because the jam tends to spill easily during baking. If you think it is not enough jam you can add that right after baking and fill the hearts up ;)
1. Mehl, Puderzucker und Stärke in einer Schüssel vermischen. Die Butter dazugeben und mit einem Teigmischer* in etwa erbsengroße Stücke zerteilen. Das Ei und den Vanille Extrakt dazugeben, alles gut vermengen und zu einem glatten Teig verkneten. Den Teig dann zu einer Rolle formen, in Klarsichtfolie einschlagen und etwa 1 Stunde in den Kühlschrank legen (zur Not auch über Nacht).
2. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen. Die Teigrolle aus dem Kühlschrank nehmen und in etwa 15 Schreiben schneiden, jede Scheibe zu einer Kugel formen und dann mit etwas Abstand auf das Blech setzen. Mit einem Finger/Daumen zwei Vertiefungen in die Mitte jeder Teigkugel drücken, die am unteren Ende miteinander verbunden sind – das Ergebnis sollte wie ein Herz aussehen. Mit einem kleinen Löffel kann man beim spitzen Ende etwas nachhelfen. Die Herzen mit ein wenig Marmelade befüllen und dann für etwa 10-12 Minuten backen. Die Kekse aus dem Ofen nehmen und auf einem Kuchengitter abkühlen lassen. In einer Keksdose bei Zimmertemperatur bis zu 7 Tage aufbewahren.
Tipp: Vor dem Backen lieber etwas weniger Marmelade in die Herzen füllen, damit diese beim Backen nicht ausläuft. Direkt nach dem Backen kann man noch einmal ein wenig Marmelade nachfüllen ;)
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Print
Easy Heart Thumbprint Cookies
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:12
- Total Time: 01:30
- Yield: 15 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: United States
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
If you want to surprise a loved one you need to make these delicious Heart Thumbprint filled with your favorite jam. Easy to prepare and so good… and lookin’ cute! ;)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup2 (200g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup (120g) butter
1 medium egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
some raspberry or cherry jam
Instructions
1. Mix flour, confectioners’ sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. Add the butter and cut into pea-sized pieces with a pastry blender*. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mix well and knead until you get a nice and smooth dough. Shape into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for about 1 hour (overnight is also ok).
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into 15 slices. Roll each dough slice into a ball and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Use a finger/thumb to make two indentions in the center of each dough ball. They should be connected at the bottom and resemble a heart. A small spoon helps here a lot to create the pointy tip of the heart. Fill the hearts with a little bit of jam and bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down on a wire rack. Store up to 7 days in an airtight container at room temperature
Tip: You might want to add less jam to the hearts because the jam tends to spill easily during baking. If you think it is not enough jam you can add that right after baking and fill the hearts up ;)
Notes
Enjoy baking!
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
