Jam Thumbprint Cookies

All of us have some biscuits or cookies that remind us of our childhood, right? For me, it’s these jam thumbprint cookies! There was this one store near our house, Batra General stores (I still remember the name :)) which sold these in packets. Sadly, not fresh from the oven, but back then who cared? These butter cookies with jam in the middle – all good things rolled into one!

I hadn’t had them for years but they were always on my mind as cookies associated with happy memories. A few years back, after I’d been baking regularly for a while, I figured it’s about time I give these a go. One should recreate childhood favourites!

It took me a couple of attempts to get the shape a little uniform, figure out how best to get the thumbprint shape and the right baking duration. Extremely tasty experiments, if I might say so 😃

The buttery, not too sweet dough needs to chill for a while in order to hold it’s shape and not spread a lot.

There are a few ways of getting the thumbprint effect. One, of course, is to use your thumb. It is easy but not always uniform. The other is to use the back of a measuring spoon (1/2 tsp) or the bottom of a rounded spoon handle. These help to make more uniform wells in the dough. The well needs to be deep enough to allow maximum jam to sit in but not too deep so that there is still dough at the bottom and it doesn’t seep out.

A lot of recipes call for spooning jam in directly. However, given the fact that I keep jam in the fridge, it is kind of hard to spoon. Whisk the jam in a little bowl till it becomes smooth but is still viscous, makes it much easier. It also looks divine!

Pour in the jam till the wells are almost full and then bake. Easy!

The cookies are ready when they start browning on the sides and top. Don’t let them get too dark else they will be dry and hard and the jam will be sticky and toffee-y. No fun!

Don’t worry if some of the jam overflows, it’s fine. Just gives you more on the edges 🙂 As you can see, I’m not the best at uniform shaping. But they taste good and look decent, it’s a win!

Make sure you let the cookies cool fully. From experience I can tell you, boiling hot jam is not something you want to touch!

The cooled cookies are deliciously buttery, with an oozy jam centre. Amaaaze! Took me straight back to my childhood and memories of eating these as snacks or as dessert. Freshly baked cookies are the bomb! Add a healthy dose of nostalgia and you have the perfect cookie, in my opinion ❤️

Trust me, you want to try these!