Valentine cookies make a yummy dessert for Valentines Day! If you are looking for more sweet recipes, try these Raspberry Brownies with Raspberry Sauce, tart but sweet! Or these Strawberry Gooey Butter Cookies, they are pink and adorable.
These cute jam heart thumbprint cookies are an adorable way to show love to your family, friends, or sweetheart. You can’t go wrong with delicious baked goods. (But, here is a great no bake option, Nutella Oreo truffles, just add festive sprinkles!)
A little bit of gooey jam goes into a heart-shaped well right on the top of the cookie! Store-bought jam is perfect for this, but your own jam would be delicious too if it’s nice and thick.
I used raspberry preserves because I love the way the tart flavor pairs with the sweet cookie. I chose to use seedless jam, but jam with raspberry seeds would be good, too if you don’t mind them. You can also use different flavors, get creative. Or try these Valentine spritz cookies.
Make these heart cookies for special occasions, Valentines day, galentines day, or everyday. They are super easy to make and a great activity for kids. My daughter even made these almost completely on her own for my anniversary last year.
What are Heart-Shaped Jam Cookies?
Traditional thumbprint cookies are made with a buttery cookie dough, typically that gets a cute little indent made with your thumb. The indent gets filled with a little scoop of jelly.
These cookies are the same, except the dent is a heart-shaped instead of just a thumbprint. That heart makes them perfect for Valentines or anytime you want to give a heart to someone you love.
How to make the Perfect Heart Thumbprint
While these are called thumbprint cookies, it is kind of difficult to make the heart imprint with a finger as big as the thumb. So, instead I like to use a smaller finger like my pinky finger or index finger. Or use a small measuring spoon to help make two dents.
Just be sure to roll the dough into nice, smooth balls between your palms. Place on a baking sheet and then press in the heart shape, it does not need to be absolutely perfect, these are just going to get eaten.
Why do we Chill the Dough?
Putting the dough in the fridge allows the fats to get cold and ensures that these cookies don’t spread when you bake them in the oven. This means you will have plumper cookies and the jam inside will stay put because they bake up more evenly.
How to Quickly Soften Butter?
I often forget to pull the butter out in time to make cookies or other recipes. If this happens to you, no need to worry!
You can fill a large glass with really hot water, dump out the water and place it upside down over the stick of butter. Let it sit for about 15 minutes and butter should be softened. Or place butter in microwave and over 50% power, heat up for 10 seconds. If butter is not soft, then flip the butter and heat for another 10 seconds.
Heart Jam Cookie Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients to make this thumbprint cookie recipe. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this blog post for full ingredient amounts.
- Flour: All purpose flour is what you want to use.
- Cornstarch: This makes the cookies crumbly and gives them a tender crumb.
- Salt: Just a tiny bit will bring out the sweetness of the cookies.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter, this allows you to control the amount of salt that gets added. Pull the butter out of the fridge a couple hours in advance of making these cookies until it is at room temperature.
- Granulated Sugar: White sugar adds a slight crispness to the cookies.
- Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar is perfect.
- Egg Yolk: One egg yolk from a large egg. Save the egg whites for another recipe.
- Vanilla Extract: Use real vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla flavoring.
- Almond Extract: This adds an extra layer of flavor, you can leave it out if you don’t like this flavor.
- Raspberry Jam: Or raspberry preserves, you can use seedless jam or with seeds.
How to Make Thumbprint Cookies
STEP 1: Line two 13×9 baking sheets with well fitting parchment paper.
STEP 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
STEP 3: In the large bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter with the sugars with the paddle attachment starting with medium speed and gradually increasing to medium high for 2-3 minutes until lighter and creamy.
STEP 4: Scrape down the bowl, mix in the egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract.
STEP 5: Set the mixture to low speed and slowly add in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
STEP 6: Using a 1 tablespoon sized dough scoop, make dough balls. Roll them as smoothly (no cracks) as possible between your palms.
STEP 7: Place each dough ball 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Gently press the heart shape into the top of the cookie dough with a pinky finger. Place the cookie sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator for 1 hour.
STEP 8: Pull the baking sheets from the freezer. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
STEP 9: Put the fruit preserves into a small microwave safe bowl and heat for 10-15 seconds until it’s a little runny. Using a 1/4 teaspoon or a very small spoon, fill the heart indent to the brim with about 1/2 teaspoon of jelly.
STEP 10: Cook each tray of cookies for 10-12 minutes until the cookie edges just start to turn golden brown.
STEP 11: Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Pro Tips for Making Thumbprint Cookies
- Deep well. Make a nice deep indent to hold all the jam and to ensure it doesn’t leak out. Just not so deep that they go all the way through the cookie.
- Properly measure flour. This is a very important tip. If you add too much flour, your cookies may fall apart. Measuring the flour with a scale will give you the perfect amount.
- Soften butter. Make sure that you pull the butter from the fridge a couple hours before you plan on making the cookies.
- Use good quality ingredients. Using good quality butter, vanilla extract
- Don’t overfill. Don’t overfill the heart dent or the jam will come spilling over the sides of the cookies.
- Dough scoop. Use a cookie dough scoop to get evenly sized cookies.
Thumbprint Cookie Recipe Variations
- Add lemon zest or orange zest to the batter.
- You could roll the cookie dough balls in sanding sugar or granulated sugar before adding the thumbprint.
- Leave out the almond extract, it will leave a simpler flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the best butter to use? I recommend using unsalted butter so that you can control the amount of salt that goes in the cookies. Using a high quality butter will give you the best flavor.
- Can I use a different flavor of jam? You can use your favorite jam like cherry or strawberry jam. You could even use blackberry preserves, plum jelly, pineapple jam, or apricot jam, but the color won’t be red for Valentine’s.
- Can I add icing to these cookies? You could mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of milk to make an easy cookie drizzle. You could also add on melted white chocolate or dark chocolate.
- What is the best kind of jam to use? Pretty much any jam will work that doesn’t have big chunks of fruit in it. I like to use store-bought fruit jam and use sweet raspberry jam in these cookies. But you can use any flavor you like, experiment to find out which one you like the best.
- What does cornstarch do in cookies? Cornstarch gives cookies a tender crumb. It also helps prevent cookies from spreading and keeps them thicker.
- Do these jam thumbprints make good gifts? These are great in a cute tin for handing someone in person as a gift. I would say that they probably don’t ship well just because they are a little delicate, they would probably end up in broken pieces.
- How many cookies does this recipe make? It makes 40-42 cookies depending on how big the cookies are made.
Can Thumbprint Cookies be made Ahead of Time
Yes, you can prepare heart thumbprint cookies in advance. Make the cookies all the way up to pressing in the thumbprint hearts, then freeze on cookie sheets for 4 hours. Place frozen cookies into an airtight freezer safe container. When ready to make them pull them out, add jam, and bake.
Or, to refrigerate the dough balls, place them on the baking tray and cover tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
How to Store & Reheat
How to store it? Let the cookies cool completely and put in an airtight container. Put parchment paper between layers to keep them from sticking. They should last about a week at room temperature or two weeks in the refrigerator.
Can I Freeze Jam Heart Cookies?
How to freeze it? Let the cookies cool completely before putting onto a baking sheet and freezing for a couple hours. Place the frozen cookies into an airtight, freezer safe container. They can be frozen for 2-3 months, just be sure to label with the recipe and date.
How to thaw it? Thaw frozen cooked cookies at room temperature or in the refrigerator until defrosted.
Try these other sweet treat recipes!
- Mexican Pink Cookies
- Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
- Raspberry Brownies with Raspberry Sauce
- Strawberry Gooey Butter Cookies
- Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
- Pink Starburst Shot
- Strawberry Hot Chocolate
If you’ve tried this jam heart thumbprint cookies recipe, don’t forget to give me a star rating and leave me a comment below in the comment section. I love to hear from people who have made my recipes.
NEVER MISS A RECIPE
Follow me on social media for more recipe ideas & inspiration!
PINTEREST / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM
Heart Jam Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam
Instructions
- Line two 13×9 baking sheets with well fitting parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter with the sugars with the paddle attachment starting with medium speed and gradually increasing to medium high for 2-3 minutes until lighter and creamy.
- Scrape down the bowl, mix in the egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract.
- Set the mixture to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Using a 1 tablespoon sized dough scoop, make dough balls. Roll them as smoothly as possible between your palms.
- Place each dough ball 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Gently press the heart shape into the top of the cookie dough with a pinky finger. Place the cookie sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Pull the baking sheets from the freezer. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Put the fruit preserves into a small microwave safe bowl and heat for 10-15 seconds until it's a little runny. Using a 1/4 teaspoon or a very small spoon, fill the heart indent to the brim with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
- Cook each tray of cookies for 10-12 minutes until the cookie edges just start to turn golden brown.
- Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
- Add lemon zest or orange zest to the batter.
- You could roll the cookie dough balls in sanding sugar or granulated sugar before adding the thumbprint.
- Leave out the almond extract, it will leave a simpler flavor.
- Cookies will last a week in an airtight container at room temperature or 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Nutrition Information
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out
I love hearing from you! Share a picture of the recipe on Instagram and hashtag it #homecookedharvest.
Leave a Reply