When I was in elementary school, my mom bought me a book full of American Girl Doll recipes and crafts. Each doll had her own chapter, and since I owned Kirsten, the blonde-haired blue-eyed girl who lived in the 1850s on the American frontier, I started with her.
Yet I quickly moved on to Felicity and Samantha, the dolls from the colonial and Victorian eras, because I loved those historical periods. Eventually, I decided to try Samantha’s thumbprint cookies that she served during afternoon tea as my first recipe… Although Mom and I agreed on substituting afternoon apple juice for pairing instead!
I carefully beat a softened stick of butter with lots of granulated sugar, mixed in the white flour and rest of the ingredients, rolled the buttery dough between my palms, and filled the center of each cookie with jam. After the timer rang and we pulled the baking sheets out of the oven, the rest of my family and I each tried a cookie…
And then ate all four dozen over the rest of the afternoon and evening. Those cookies were that good!
Years later, I finally perfected this recipe for Healthy Thumbprint Cookies. They taste just as soft and sweet and buttery as those originals… But these contain no refined flour or refined sugar, and they’re just 46 calories!
You can watch the episode below where I show you how to make these healthy thumbprint cookies and get my recipe directly beneath the video. And remember to subscribe to my TV show here, so you’ll be the first to know when a new episode airs each week!
I’d absolutely LOVE it if you leave me a comment below and tell me what you think of my TV show! And remember to subscribe to my TV show here! ♡
I owned the Samantha American Girl doll, so I’m especially happy to see your recipe inspiration here! 🙂 So interesting about why you added extra vanilla – again, this is why I appreciate your tv episode accompaniments to the recipes, as well as your always thoroughly written posts.
You’re SO sweet Liz — your comments seriously make my day every single time! I truly appreciate it, and I’m so glad you find my little episode tips helpful! 🙂 If I were able to go back in time and ask for a second American Girl Doll, Samantha would’ve been at the top of my list! 😉
I always seem to forget about Thumbprint cookies, but they’re such a delicious, classic cookie! I love the way the jam gets kinda sticky after it’s been baked.
I LOVE the shirt you are wearing in this episode! It’s so pretty and fun- JUST LIKE YOU!! <3
YES!! My thoughts exactly about the jam! It somehow makes the jam taste even better… Which is dangerous! 😉 You’re such a sweetheart — thanks sweet pea!!
Delicious! With all your recipes I keep on having the same problem, my batter is much drier than yours. It is still super tasty, but I want to figure out what I’m doing wrong. I have already looked that the baking for beginners section you have so I know that I am measuring the flour correctly. Any thoughts?
I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies Julia! When you’re measuring flour, are you using the spoon-and-level method or a kitchen scale? Are you using coconut sugar or brown sugar? What other recipes have you experienced this issue in? We’ll get this sorted out! 🙂
Hi! I’m using the spoon and level method and coconut sugar. The other recipes I’ve tried are the oatmeal raisin banana cookies and the blueberry scones. Thanks!
Thanks for the info Julia! 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 and scone dough, so you’ll end up with moist and tender baked treats. Does that make sense? 🙂