 Sugar Plum Thumbprint Cookies Who doesn't love melt-in-your-mouth almond shortbread cookies, but even more so with a little bit of sugar plums thrown in for magic! Sugar Plum & Almond Shortbread Cookies are perfect for holiday teas or Christmas cookie celebrations! Tender, buttery shortbread with a touch of holiday sugar plum jam...sweet and simple with sweet plums and a touch of citrus makes these perfectly delightful - and loved by all of the sugar plum fairies in the world! Throw in a Holiday Giveaway and you'll have visions of sugar plums dancing in your head!  Sugar Plum Holiday Cookies Are you a little bit intrigued yet? These classic shortbread thumbprint cookies are tender and buttery, and with a few little tricks, bake up perfect every single time! My secret is simple.  Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookies So many thumbprint cookie recipes instruct you to keep your cookie dough chilled before you roll them out. We're going to chill the dough overnight, which gives everything a chance to meld together into rich, cookie dough perfection. The next morning, remove the cookie dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temp for about 30 minutes before rolling cookie dough balls in your nice warm hands. Smooth dough and smooth edges, and so easy to work with! We'll fill each thumbprint with a tiny bit of sugar plum jam, and then we're going to pop the entire baking pan in the freezer for 10 minutes (or the fridge for 30 minutes). This allows the cookies to set up nice and firm, keep their shape, bake up to golden perfection, and no cracks. Ever! Once these bake up nice and golden, you're going to take them out of the oven and then add another tiny half spoonful of Stonewall Kitchen's Sugar Plum jam - the warmth of the cookies from the oven will melt this additional jam up, and it will fill up the thumbprint all pretty. All that's left is to cool these down, and if you have the patience to wait, drizzle with a sweet light swirl of silky vanilla and almond icing.  Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookies I have made more kinds of shortbread thru the years than I can count, and this is the one that makes everyone close their eyes and declare, "The best one ever..." It all starts with quality ingredients. Good quality butter, pure vanilla extract, the purest almond extract - when there are only five simple ingredients, quality matters. And it only gets better from here on out!  Snowflakes & Coffeecakes 2018 Rodelle Holiday Giveaway! SNOWFLAKES & COFFEECAKES |
SUGAR PLUM SHORTBREAD COOKIESWho doesn’t love melt-in-your-mouth almond shortbread cookies, but even more so with a little bit of sugar plums thrown in for magic. Perfect for holiday teas or Christmas cookie celebrations! Tender, buttery shortbread with a touch of holiday sugar plum jam...sweet and simple with a touch of citrus make these perfectly delightful - and loved by all of the sugar plum fairies in the world! |
Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookies
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INGREDIENTS:
Shortbread Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Rodelle Pure Almond Extract
2 cups + 2 Tbsp (264g) all-purpose flour (sifted & spooned – not scooped!)
1 cup Stonewall Kitchen's Sugar Plum Jam
Almond Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoon cream or half & half
1 teaspoon Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon Rodelle Pure Almond Extract
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
HOW I MAKE THESE:
1. Beat the butter on high speed with a handheld or stand mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Switch mixer to medium speed and add the sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, scraping down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer off and add half of the flour; turn the mixer on low and slowly beat just until combined. Add remaining flour and again mix slowly just until a very soft dough is formed. Press the dough down into bowl, tightly cover with plastic wrap to chill overnight.
2. The next day, remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator an hour before you intend to start baking.
3. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (parchment paper seems to work better than silicone mats for these shortbread cookies).
4. Roll the cookie dough into 1-inch balls, making sure they're nice and smooth. Make an indentation with your thumb into each ball. The dough may crack slightly when you press your thumb into it, but you can pinch the dough back together gently. Fill each impression with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Place prepared cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes – this step is MANDATORY!
5. Bake the shortbread thumbprint cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the edges. The cookies will puff up and spread slightly. Do not overbake!
6. Remove from oven and immediately spoon an additional ½ teaspoon of Sugar Plum jam into each cookie, smoothing it around to fill the indentation evenly.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet. Cool to room temperature before glazing.
7. To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, cream/half & half, vanilla and almond extract and corn syrup until smooth. Add more liquid to thin out or add more powdered sugar to thicken to your desired consistency. Carefully drizzle over cooled cookies and allow glaze to set (you can refrigerate to speed this process up).
8. Store cookies covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days. Baked cookies can be frozen up to 30 days – thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
YIELD: Makes 36 cookies
Shortbread Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Rodelle Pure Almond Extract
2 cups + 2 Tbsp (264g) all-purpose flour (sifted & spooned – not scooped!)
1 cup Stonewall Kitchen's Sugar Plum Jam
Almond Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoon cream or half & half
1 teaspoon Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon Rodelle Pure Almond Extract
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
HOW I MAKE THESE:
1. Beat the butter on high speed with a handheld or stand mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Switch mixer to medium speed and add the sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, scraping down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer off and add half of the flour; turn the mixer on low and slowly beat just until combined. Add remaining flour and again mix slowly just until a very soft dough is formed. Press the dough down into bowl, tightly cover with plastic wrap to chill overnight.
2. The next day, remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator an hour before you intend to start baking.
3. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (parchment paper seems to work better than silicone mats for these shortbread cookies).
4. Roll the cookie dough into 1-inch balls, making sure they're nice and smooth. Make an indentation with your thumb into each ball. The dough may crack slightly when you press your thumb into it, but you can pinch the dough back together gently. Fill each impression with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Place prepared cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes – this step is MANDATORY!
5. Bake the shortbread thumbprint cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the edges. The cookies will puff up and spread slightly. Do not overbake!
6. Remove from oven and immediately spoon an additional ½ teaspoon of Sugar Plum jam into each cookie, smoothing it around to fill the indentation evenly.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet. Cool to room temperature before glazing.
7. To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, cream/half & half, vanilla and almond extract and corn syrup until smooth. Add more liquid to thin out or add more powdered sugar to thicken to your desired consistency. Carefully drizzle over cooled cookies and allow glaze to set (you can refrigerate to speed this process up).
8. Store cookies covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days. Baked cookies can be frozen up to 30 days – thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
YIELD: Makes 36 cookies
Originally posted December 2012; revised and reposted December 2018.
© SnowflakesandCoffeecakes. All images, attachments & content are copyright protected. All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to www.snowflakesandcoffeecakes.com for the recipe.
© SnowflakesandCoffeecakes. All images, attachments & content are copyright protected. All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to www.snowflakesandcoffeecakes.com for the recipe.
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13 Comments
Lauren
12/11/2018 05:34:34 pm
These look beyond yummy - and the sugar plum jam is a really nice touch for the holidays. My favorite is sugar cookies, warm from the oven. Favorite jam? Raspberry!
Susan B
12/12/2018 09:17:34 am
Chocolate chip cookies and strawberry jam!
Jenny
12/13/2018 07:54:21 am
Peanut butter b lossoms are my fav - and grape preserves.
Jeanne
12/13/2018 09:23:40 am
I simply adore thumbprint cookies and these look so wonderful. I would love the plum jam too!
Peggy Sable
12/13/2018 09:47:56 am
These cookies look so good - I'm going to make them for our Christmas holiday party. Russian tea cakes are my favorite and homemade peach jam.
Ruth
12/13/2018 10:46:43 am
Chocolate crinkle cookies and strawberry jam for me. I would love to win this prize as I use these in my Christmas baking!
Linda
12/13/2018 11:21:42 am
My favorite cookie is old fashioned sugar cookies with a sprinkle of sugar on top, simple and good. Raspberry preserves are my favorite.
Cheryl
12/13/2018 11:36:17 am
Can I replace vanilla with vanilla bean paste? Peanut butter blossoms are my favorite cookie in the hole world.
You can absolutely replace vanilla with vanilla bean paste in most recipes! I tend to save vanilla bean paste for simple recipes where you want the vanilla flavor and specks of vanilla seed to shine thru - like buttercream frostings, custards and fillings, whipped cream, and its wonderful in cakes and cookies. Enjoy!
Mary Elizabeth
12/13/2018 02:21:21 pm
These look so pretty and I love the name. My favorite is molasses cookies, and I'll try the sugar plum jam because it sounds fabulous.
Rosie F
12/13/2018 04:01:46 pm
YUMMY! I'll take some of these and bake them up quick. Favorite cookie is peanut butter, favorite jam is strawberry.
Andrea
12/14/2018 07:31:03 am
These look so yummy - I love jam filled cookies, with raspberry or apricot jam.
Katey
12/14/2018 09:39:09 am
These are quite lovely Mama V! My favorite is frosted gingerbread and I love me some blueberry jam!
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