These raspberry thumbprint cookies are a tender, lightly sweetened shortbread rolled in ground pistachios and filled with raspberry preserves. I make them with butter, sugar, and flour, and they come out of the oven in only 7 minutes. I love one in the morning with a black coffee.
I cannot remember a single Christmas or Thanksgiving growing up without a plate of these somewhere on the table. All of my aunts made them, my grandma made them, and my mom made them, so they are wired into the holiday for me. If you like a good homemade cookie around the holidays, take a look at my chocolate chip cookies and my Sicilian S cookies too. What makes this one worth keeping is how simple it is. A short shortbread base, a little tart raspberry in the center, and a nutty, faintly salty edge from the pistachios. Oh… my, so good!
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
A thumbprint cookie is a shortbread dough rolled into small balls. They’re pressed with your thumb to make a well in the center, and filled with jam or preserves before baking. It is a classic holiday cookie, and the version I grew up on came straight from my mom’s handwritten recipe.
There is almost nothing to it once the butter is soft. Yes, that’s right! You cream the butter and sugar, work in the flour, salt, and vanilla, then roll the dough into little balls. Coat them in ground pistachios, press a well into each, spoon in the preserves, and bake. No chilling, no rolling out, no cutters.
I am partial to my mom’s original, but seriously, this is one of the easier cookies to make your own. The pistachios are not in her version, and they are the one thing I add every single time now. Finely ground, lightly salted, they bring color, a little crunch, and a saltiness that plays off the raspberry better than anything else I have tried. Swap the raspberry for apricot preserves, orange marmalade, or plain currant jelly. Every one of them works, so use whatever fruit you love. I really hope you bake a batch this month and see why they never left our holiday table.
Ingredients and Substitutions
These are the simple ingredients I use to make this epic homemade Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies recipe:
- Unsalted butter – This is where all the fat and flavor comes from, and unsalted lets you control the salt yourself. Margarine works if that is what you have.
- Granulated sugar sweetens the shortbread without making it a sugar cookie. Use half granulated and half light brown sugar for a softer, slightly caramel note. Add a little more sugar if you like a sweeter cookie.
- All-purpose flour – Gives the cookie its structure and keeps the crumb tender. Bread flour works and makes them a touch sturdier.
- A little salt balances the sweetness of the dough and the tartness of the preserves. I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- Vanilla extract – Optional, but it brightens the dough and complements the raspberry. Leave it out, and the cookie is still good, just a shade plainer.
- Pistachios, lightly salted, roasted, and finely ground. These coat the outside and give color, crunch, and a salty edge against the fruit. Almonds or pecans work if pistachios are not around, though pistachios are my favorite with raspberry.
- Raspberry jelly or preserves – The tart center of the cookie. I like preserves for the little seed crunch and the more pronounced flavor, but jelly or jam work fine. Any fruit you love works here, too.
How to Make Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 375°F with no fan.
Cream the butter and sugar: Cream the softened butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy.
Add the flour: Set the mixer to low or medium and slowly add the flour. Stop and scrape the bowl if you need to.
Add the salt and vanilla: Add the salt and vanilla and mix on high for 10 to 20 seconds, just until the dough comes into a mass.
Roll the dough: Roll the dough into balls about the size of an olive and set them on a parchment-lined sheet tray. Work quickly here, because the longer the dough sits in warm hands, the more the butter softens and the harder it is to handle.
Coat in pistachios: Roll each ball in the ground pistachios and shake off any excess. Place them about 15 to a tray, then press your thumb into the center of each one to make a well.
Fill the centers: Spoon the raspberry preserves into each well.
Bake: Bake on a middle rack at 375°F for about 7 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. They will widen a little as they bake, and that is normal. Take them out just shy of done and let the carryover heat finish them on a rack so they stay tender and moist. Cool to room temperature and enjoy.
Chef Tip + Notes
Here is the tip I highly recommend: keep the whole thing moving from the second the butter is creamed. Shortbread dough is mostly butter, and trust me, butter is happiest cold. The faster you roll, coat, press, and fill, the firmer the dough stays and the neater the cookies bake up. When I slow down, the butter warms in my hands, the dough goes soft and sticky, and the cookies bake out flat instead of round and neat. So I set up an assembly line, roll a whole tray at a pace, and get them into the oven before the dough has a chance to soften.
- Soften the butter, do not melt it: Leave the butter at room temperature until it gives to light pressure but is not soft enough to smear. Greasy or too-firm butter both cream poorly and throw off the texture.
- Undercook them slightly: Take the cookies out when the edges are just barely golden and let carryover cooking do the rest on the rack. There is nothing worse than an overbaked shortbread cookie.
- Grind the pistachios fine: Buzz them in a food processor, or crush them in a bag with a mallet or rolling pin, until they are close to a coarse meal so they coat the dough instead of falling off.
- Do not overfill the wells: A small spoonful of preserves per cookie is plenty. Too much and it bubbles over the edge as they bake.
Serving Suggestions
These go on our holiday cookie tray every December, right alongside a stack of cherry biscotti for anyone who wants something to dunk in their coffee. My daughter always goes for the raspberry ones first, usually before they have finished cooling. I have learned to make more of these than I think I need. For a bigger dessert table around Christmas, I set them out next to a Christmas yule log cake so there is something showy and something simple side by side.
They are just as good on an easy morning as they are on a party tray. I keep a few for myself and eat one or two with a black coffee while the house is still asleep, which is honestly my favorite way to have them. Ha! If you are putting together a gift box, tuck a handful in with some sugared cranberries, and you’ll have a homemade holiday treat that really impresses.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: I make these up to 3 days ahead when I am cooking for a holiday and want one thing off my plate early.
How to Store: Store covered at room temperature for up to 5 days, or covered in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
How to Freeze: Freeze, covered, for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and serve.
More Easy Sweet Treat Recipes
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pistachios, finely ground
- 1/2 cup raspberry jelly , or preserves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, no fan.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Over low to medium speed. Slowly add the flour to the mixer. Stop and scrape if you need to.
- Add in the salt and vanilla and turn the speed to high for 10 to 20 seconds.
- Shape dough into balls about the size of an olive. Place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
- Next, roll each dough ball in the pistachios and remove any excess. Place them 15 to a tray. Press your thumb into the center to make a well.
- Fill the centers with the raspberry preserves.
- Bake on a middle rack at 375° for 7 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool on a rack to room temperature. Enjoy.
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies