The Christmas when I was seven years old, a combination of Santa, my parents, and my grandparents gave me the American Girl Doll Kirsten, along with some clothes and accessories. With her blonde hair, she actually looked like me, and I loved slipping her into the hand-sewn aprons and dresses my grandmother stitched.
Over the years, I accumulated quite a collection of American Girl Doll products, some of them from catalogs and others handmade: a bed, a dresser, an armoire, a horse, plenty of clothes, and even a book of activities and recipes.
Although I wanted to make everything in that book, Mom suggested that I picked out a few favorites to try first. (Smart lady!) After skimming through the pages countless times, I eventually settled on a cake from Kirsten and cookies from Samantha.
The cake required a little more adult supervision, but since I could easily mix up the jam-filled thumbprint cookie dough by myself, that’s where I started. Raspberry jam in one bowl, stirred until smooth; butter and sugar in another bowl, beaten until creamy; add flour and roll, roll, roll into tiny balls.
I managed to make over 50 tiny cookies (probably because my hands and thumbs were so small back then!), and I neatly filled each one with the fruit spread. Mom placed the trays in the oven so I wouldn’t burn myself, and we set the kitchen timer to ring a few minutes later.
As soon as the jam centers cooled enough so they wouldn’t scorch our tongues, Mom, my brother, and I each took a bite. And another. And another. Those buttery cookies didn’t stand a chance—we polished off all but 10 by the time Dad returned home from work that evening!
My old next door neighbor’s daughter mentioned visiting the American Girl Doll store when I stopped by to visit last week, and that brought back lots of memories of childhood summers spent playing with Kirsten and licking buttery thumbprint cookie crumbs off my fingers. Instead of digging through boxes in the attic to find the recipe, I created my own healthier version with a little nutty twist: Peanut Butter & Jam Thumbprint Cookies!
Yes, even though I just revealed to you that I hated jam on my PB sandwiches as a kid, I still love the flavor combination. Salty and nutty PB + sweet fruit = ♥. Always has, always will. So these cookies are like a dessert version of the classic sandwich!
For the dough, I turned to my favorite healthy peanut butter cookies. Because I still wanted the treats to be bite-sized like I made them as a kid, I halved the recipe and still ended up with 24 cookies. Feel free to double the dough and jam if you’d like! With how little self-control I have around thumbprint cookies, that would just be dangerous in our house…
When you press your fingers into the centers of the balls to make a well, the sides may crack. That’s okay! Just pinch them back together, and no one will be the wiser. It almost always happens to me because I’m a perfectionist and work fairly slow, so the cookie dough for the last few dries out a tiny bit before I can get to them. They still turn out just fine though!
Before filling the centers with jam, it’s important to stir the jam until it’s smooth in a small bowl. Normally jam comes out of the jar slightly lumpy and wants to stick together, so stirring it with a spoon ensures that the cookie centers look and taste perfect.
I know it’s pure torture to wait for that fruity filling to cool, especially with the nutty peanut butter aroma wafting around the house… But I promise it’s worth it! Especially if nobody else is home and you can hoard the entire tray to yourself. Not that I’d know or anything.
Soft, chewy peanut butter cookies full of sweet, sticky fruit jam. Dessert doesn’t get much better than this—it’s the stuff cookie-lovers’ dreams are made of!
| Peanut Butter & Jam Thumbprint Cookies | | Print |
- ½ c (136-152g) raspberry jam* (regular or sugar-free)
- 1 c (120g) white whole wheat flour (measured correctly)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 ½ tbsp (72g) creamy peanut butter
- ½ c (106g) brown or coconut sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Add the raspberry jam to a small bowl, and stir with a spoon until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg white, and vanilla. Stir in the peanut butter until completely incorporated. Stir in the sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.
- Roll the dough into 24 balls, and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Gently press your thumb or index finger into the center to make a well. If the sides crack, gently press them back together. Fill the centers with the prepared jam.
- Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
This recipe was tested with Skippy Natural creamy peanut butter. I have not tried natural/homemade peanut butter in this recipe and do not know how that will turn out.
If your cookie dough is too dry, add milk one tablespoon at a time until the cookie dough is the proper consistency.
For a clean-eating version, use coconut sugar and my 10 minute raspberry jam!
{gluten-free, clean eating (option), low fat, low calorie}
More thumbprint cookies from other food bloggers…
♥ Grain-Free Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies by Texanerin Baking
♥ Linzer Thumbprint Cookies by Healthy Seasonal Recipes
♥ Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies by Julie’s Eats & Treats
♥ Lemon Jam Thumbprint Cookies by Give Recipe
Hi. I’ve tried this recipe 3x now & they just don’t come out right. They collapse into a muddled mess: jam indistinguishable from the PB cookie. I’ve even tried refrigerating the dough in case it was because it had gotten too warm. No dice. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
I’m sorry the cookies aren’t turning out for you; that must be disappointing. Can you describe what you did, and have you made any modifications to the recipe? As written, the dough should be stiff enough to roll between your palms and shouldn’t experience the problems you explained. I’d like to work together to solve this so your next batch turns out correctly!
Hi. Thanks for replying. I followed the recipe exactly, including measuring all ingredients (i.e., the flour) precisely, as instructed. The dough was stiff – even a little crumbly to be honest, almost as if too much flour to moisture ratio. Nevertheless, I persevered, but they just come out looking squashed. I never have a problem baking things and am generally good at following instructions but I have to confess, this is driving me crazy!
It’s strange that the dough was crumbly, yet the jam was indistinguishable from the cookie. What brands of peanut butter and jam did you use, and how deep did you make the thumbprint well when shaping the cookies? We’ll figure this out together so it stops driving you crazy! 🙂
Hello again. I used Skippy smooth PB. The jam I used was Bonne Maman. I made the thumbprint hole fairly deep – i’m not quite sure how to gauge that. I also ‘opened it up’ a little, since the thumbprint was rather small. PBJ is one of my all time favorite things and I was really looking forward to these cookies; now I’m depressed 🙁
Thanks for the information! Try making the thumbprints a little smaller, and use my photos as a guide. These cookies are meant to be bite-sized, so the thumbprint in the middle shouldn’t be very large. It should be no deeper than about halfway down the side of the cookie. Don’t overfill the holes with jam either; that could also lead to the issues you’re seeing. Also, how are you measuring the brown sugar? Are you packing it into the measuring cup? And are you using the full 4.5 tablespoons of peanut butter? Too little brown sugar or peanut butter could also cause the crumbly cookie dough problem. I have a feeling that the cookies should turn out for you with these tweaks! 🙂
I am so excited to make these cookies this weekend! Can I substitute butter for coconut oil?
Yes, that should work just fine. I hope you enjoy the cookies Samantha!
These are my new fave Christmas cookies. I wanted to find a healthier version of the sugar and butter-loaded thumbprint cokies. Seriously, my fave combo ever–pb and j. I love to cook but only bake during the holidays and these are easy to make and delish!!!
Oh my goodness, I’m truly touched that you’d call these your new favorite Christmas cookies Therese! That means a lot to me — thank you! 🙂 I’m so glad you loved the cookies!
This was such a great and simple recipe! I was out of whole wheat flour, so I did a mix of oat and almond flour. They turned out great! Super moist and flavorful. I also did a mix of nut butters, peanut, almond, cashew, and walnut. Can’t wait to try these again! Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Jacob! And thanks for including your recipe tweaks — I always love to hear what works! 🙂
I’m baking these soon for a study group. I wanted to add some instant rolled oats to the batter to make peanut butter oatmeal and jelly cookies. What would you suggest I add to avoid the cookies being too dry?
I’m planning on adding half a cup of rolled oats to see how that plays out, but I’m also making it today and it’s needed today 🙁
I really don’t recommend that Lily!! Oats act like little sponges and soak up moisture from cookie dough, so that would most likely make the cookies turn out dry and crumbly. If you wanted to make PB&J oatmeal cookies, then I’d recommend this recipe of mine instead. Omit the chocolate chips, chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes, and if it’s still sticky when you try to press your thumb into it to make the wells, then moisten your fingers with a tiny bit of water to prevent the cookie dough from sticking to your fingers. 🙂
I really wish I read the comments before attempting this recipe as the measurements didn’t work for me at all. It’s like there’s too much flour and now I’m sitting in my kitchen with a crumbly peanut butter mess. I’m disappointed and wasted my time. Unfortunately I do not recommend this recipe as I don’t believe the measurements are right. Thanks for the idea, though.
I appreciate your interest in my recipe Kristina! The measurements are correct; I’ve made these cookies 50+ times. 🙂 What brand of flour and peanut butter did you use? Did you measure the flour with a kitchen scale? Or by scooping it directly from the container? When measured with the latter method, you can end up with 1.5 times as much flour as when you lightly spoon and level, and that extra flour is definitely causing the issues that you’ve experienced! If you don’t own a kitchen scale, here’s what I recommend doing for measuring flour (and cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up flour from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of flour extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess flour. Never “pat” the flour down with the knife or fork. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less flour to the cookie dough, so you’ll end up with moist and tender cookies. Does that make sense? 🙂
I made these with my 4 year old yesterday and they turned out great. I used coconut oil instead of butter and one whole egg instead of egg whites only. The dough seemed a bit dry to me and I had to knead it a bit. I was able to shape the cookies after a bit of kneading without adding anything.
I’m so glad you and your 4-year-old enjoyed these cookies Snehal! 🙂
Just tried these after buying some healthy peanut butter and sugar-free raspberry jam! I changed the sugar into a little over 1/4 cup Natvia and used all-purpose white flour and a bit of almond meal (ran out of whole wheat!). The mixture turned out crumbly as expected since I’ve swapped out lots of the ingredients, but after adding a dash of water it was perfect! My end result needed about 25 minutes in the oven but they are deeeelicious!
Thank you, Amy!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Annie! That really means a lot to me, especially that you’d take the time to let me know. I’m so honored! 🙂
I was excited to find this recipe as I was looking for a healthier alternative and had all ingredients in my pantry, but I agree with the reviews about the cookies being too dry. I am an avid baker and before I poured the dry mixture into the wet I knew the ratio of dry to wet was way off. I ended up adding almost 5 tablespoons of milk to the “batter” as it was extremely crumbly and wouldn’t clump together when I tried rolling them into balls. Either the amount of liquid (i.e. use 1 whole egg, more oil, or add milk) needs to be upped in the recipe, or the flour needs to be almost cut in half. I did use all natural pb and coconut sugar so perhaps that would make a slight difference, but should not account for how dry they were. There are lots of other pb thumbprint cookies out there that I think I’ll try next instead that when reading the recipes seem to have the ratios more correct. Also, I only was able to roll out 14 cookies, not 24, and they’re still only 2 bite cookies.
I know it’s been years since you posted this recipe but I just came upon it & would like to try it this weekend for a cookie swap. I’m okay with bypassing the healthy part so just wondering if I could evenly swap the wheat flour with all purpose flour & use a whole egg instead of just the whites or would this affect the outcome? Thanks – Tara
It means so much that you’d consider making my recipe for your cookie swap, Tara! It’s fine to substitute all-purpose flour. If you use a whole egg, the yolk will add more liquid volume to the cookie dough, so it’ll be stickier and could potentially be a bit harder to work with.
I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you end up making them!