Soft and buttery vegan thumbprint cookies with a raspberry jam center and almond glaze. Easy and fun to make and simply gorgeous!
These almond and raspberry vegan thumbprint cookies are perfect for the holidays. Buttery melt-in-your-mouth vegan shortbread with a raspberry filling and drizzled with an almond glaze. What could be better!
The recipe is adapted from our vegan shortbread cookies (also perfect for the holidays) and with a few small changes we have these gorgeous little treats.
And for more holiday cookies, check out our vegan snickerdoodles, vegan peanut butter cookies, vegan butter cookies and vegan peanut butter blossoms.
How To Make Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
We start off with a simple shortbread cookie dough. We make up the dough and then roll it into balls.
Some recipes advise chilling the dough first, but I found it almost impossible to put the thumbprint into the chilled dough without it cracking terribly. I found it easiest to put a thumbprint into pliable dough and then chill it afterwards before adding the jam.
So roll the dough into balls and then use your thumb to make indentations into each ball. It will crack a little, just smooth it as best you can with your fingers and don’t worry too much about it. Then you place the tray into the freezer to chill for 15 minutes.
Then you use a teaspoon to add the jam into the thumbprint indentations and smooth it down.
I used raspberry jam, but I have also made a batch with mixed berry jam that was just as fabulous. So use any jam you fancy or whatever you have on hand.
Bake in the oven for around 16 minutes. You want the edges of the cookies to be just slightly browned.
Allow to cool completely before drizzling with a simple glaze of powdered sugar, non-dairy milk and just a drop of almond extract. You want just a hint of almond flavor, nothing overpowering.
Almond Glaze
Getting the right consistency for the almond glaze can be a bit tricky because 1 tablespoon of non-dairy milk is too little and 2 tablespoons is way too much. So you have to add 1 tablespoon and then single drops until you get it just right. If your glaze is too runny, it will slide right off your cookies, but if it’s too thick, it won’t drizzle on at all.
We actually found it quite useful to use our piping kit to put this on, just using the thinnest attachment to pipe it in a drizzle pattern.
Recipe Tips
Measure your flour properly. The best way to measure your flour is to weigh it out on a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale then the next best thing is to use the ‘spoon and level’ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup (don’t pack it into the cup or scoop it) and then level off the top with a knife.
Keep an eye on the cookies as they bake. Ovens can differ greatly, so make sure that they are lightly browned on the edges. You don’t want them to over-bake.
Gluten-free. We have not tested these cookies for gluten-free but if you’d like to try it a gluten-free all purpose baking blend in the same quantity as the regular flour will be the best option.
Storing and Freezing
Keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature where they will stay fresh for a few days or covered in the fridge where they will stay good for up to a week.
They are also freezer friendly for 3 months.
More Vegan Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Ginger Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Vanilla Wafers
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Vegan Butter (225g)
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- ¼ tsp Almond Extract
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- ½ tsp Salt
- ⅓ cup Raspberry Jam
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar (120g)
- 1 ¼ Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1-2 drops Almond Extract
Instructions
- Add the vegan butter and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together. Then add in the almond extract and mix in.
- Add in the flour and salt and stir in by hand until it forms a thick dough.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and break off pieces of the dough, roll into balls and place the balls onto the tray.
- Use your thumb to create thumbprints in the balls, the dough may crack along the edges, just use your fingers to try to smooth out the cracks as best you can. Try and get the thumb indents as uniform as possible.
- Place the tray with the cookies into the freezer for 15 minutes so that the cookies can firm up before filling the indents with jam.
- After 15 minutes bring out the tray, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and fill the thumbprints with raspberry jam.
- Bake in the oven for 16 minutes until the edges of the cookies are slightly browned.
- Let them cool for at least 30 minutes before glazing.
- For the glaze, add the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of soy milk and a drop or two of almond extract (just enough to get the flavor but nothing overpowering) to a bowl and mix together into a glaze. Add the extra ¼ tablespoon of soy milk slowly just until you get the right consistency. It needs to be thin enough to drizzle but not so thin that it slides right off the cookies.
- Drizzle the glaze over your cooled cookies, or use a piping bag to pipe it on.
Notes
- Almond extract. The almond extract flavor is subtle and adds charm – but it can also be omitted if it’s not an appealing flavor blend to you.
- Measure your flour properly. The best way to measure your flour is to weigh it out on a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale then the next best thing is to use the ‘spoon and level’ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup (don’t pack it into the cup or scoop it) and then level off the top with a knife.
- Raspberry Jam. Feel free to use a different flavor jam.
- Baking time. Keep an eye on the cookies as they bake. Ovens can differ greatly, so make sure that they are lightly browned on the edges. You don’t want them to over-bake.
- Gluten-free. We have not tested these cookies for gluten-free but if you’d like to try it a gluten-free all purpose baking blend in the same quantity as the regular flour will be the best option.
- Storing and freezing: Keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature where they will stay fresh for a few days or covered in the fridge where they will stay good for up to a week. They are also freezer friendly for 3 months
can I use vegan shortening instead of butter? if so what is the replacement ratio?
Thanks
Hi Richa, I’ve never used shortening so I can’t advise on that.
I have just made these, they are delicious and so quick to make. I substituted some ground almonds for a little of the flour. I used self raising flour – I’m in Scotland, not U.S. Thanks for a great recipe!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Hilary!
Would this recipe work with a gluten free flour instead? If so do you have any suggestions for the type of flour I should use?
Hi Danielle, I have not tested this as gluten-free but my first try would be to use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend and see how that goes. 🙂
You say to put the tray in the freezer for a while but my freezer is very small (typical British) so what can i do instead?
You could put them onto a parchment lined plate instead if that would fit. And then just move them onto the baking tray once they’re firm.
Thank you I will try that BTW I love your recipes and have a lot of them in my favorites
So happy to hear that Katherine, thank you! And all the best with the cookies!
I really liked this recipe. The almond flavour is delicious, the first time I made them I didn’t have any raspberry jam so used apricot for half and cherry for the other half, they were still yummy. I used raspberry the following time. The family loved them and am making them for a treat for my mum for her birthday. I think they will be a family favourite for years to come! I love all your recipes, your website is my go to website for all my baking.
Thanks so much Amy! So glad you enjoyed the cookies and thanks for the amazing review!
Worked really well, everyone loved it!
So happy to hear that!
Can I make these with almond flour? Also if not please make an almond flour version.
Hi Jan, no almond flour would not work for this.
This is my favorite vegan cookie recipe. I’ve made it so many times now and my non-vegan friends and family LOVE them also!
Thanks so much Bailey!
Winner recipe! My husband and 2 1/2 year old daughter and I all loved them, which is not typical at all. (Note to self: always double this recipe!) Not difficult at all, they make a brilliant presentation, and they taste even better than they look. I know I made some substitutions, but unfortunately I can’t report what because I don’t remember exactly what I did anymore.
Fantastic! Thanks Tzivi! 🙂
Tasted great! But I have a story to tell . I finished putting the jam in the middle of the cookies but as I was putting them into the oven the pan fell out of my hands and went all over the oven. Luckily, I only used half of the dough.
Oh no! Hahaha, happens to all of us at some stage! So glad you managed to save some. 🙂
Hello, I made these cookies twice. First time it turned out as expected and tasted great. Thank you for this yummy recipe! However the second time these cookies spread while baking making them rather thinner. What could I have done to make them spread? Thank you.
Hi Mina, it may be that the dough warmed up a bit more the second time around. We chill the dough for this recipe so that they can hold their shape well. Maybe after adding the jam just put them back in the freezer for 5 minutes so that they are nice and chilled when they go into the oven and that will make sure they hold their shape well. All the best! 🙂
Thank you! I will try it that way next time! Happy holidays! ❤️
Thanks Mina! Happy Holidays to you too! 🙂
Love these. I make them all the time for me and my family, I’m the only vegan but no complaints from anyone else, they wouldn’t know any different to be honest and they all love them too.
Awesome Emma! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂