Thumbprint Cookie Recipes | Taste of Home (2024)

FAQs

Why are my thumbprint cookies falling apart? ›

The dough should be chilled for at least 30 minutes, so that you can shape it into balls and indent without falling apart. Check that your oven temperature isn't too high.

Thumbprints crack if the dough is too cold or pressed to aggressively. I recommend using your index finger and pressing firmly but make the indent slowly. I know they are called “thumbprints” but most people's thumbs are actually too big for this task and will crack the dough!

Cookies spread because the fat in the cookie dough melts in the oven. If there isn't enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.

For best results, chill the dough for at least an hour (and up to overnight); otherwise, these can spread some when baking. Before baking, create a crater in each dough ball with your thumb and fill with raspberry jam or whatever filling you are using. Then you're ready to bake!

Store thumbprint cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week. You can keep them at room temperature or in the fridge.

Storing your dough in the fridge helps to harden the fat and prevent your cookies from spreading. Allow it to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

When does Thumbprint Cookies expire? When does Thumbprint Cookies expire? Thumbprint cookies, whether homemade or store-bought, generally maintain their best quality for up to 1 to 2 weeks at normal room temperature.

Absolutely! Thumbprint cookies will either have their indentions made before or after baking. If that occurs before baking, you can do that before they're frozen so that they're ready to go when you're ready to bake them.

Using parchment paper for baking cookies will enable them to bake more evenly, and the non-stick quality will also help prevent them from cracking or breaking when lifting them off the sheet.

Baking soda and baking powder are not the same. Sodium bicarbonate and bicarbonate of soda are other names for baking soda. Baking powder is made of baking soda plus cream of tartar and cornstarch. Baking powder can be substituted for baking soda by tripling the amount of baking powder.

What is the secret to thick cookies? ›

A low proportion of sugar relative to flour reduces spread, keeping the cookies thick. A high proportion of mix-ins helps thicken the dough. Blending chocolate chip styles creates a more dynamic flavor. Overnight refrigeration hydrates the flour, again helping the cookies stay thick.

Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies.

You can bake the cookies right away, but they will spread more. This is one way to get thinner, crisper cookies, if that's what you like.

The cookie baked from room temperature, being thinner, has a more uniform texture, while the one baked straight from the fridge. is thick enough to accommodate a softer interior. and crispier exterior. No contest. Generally speaking, you should chill your cookie dough before baking it.

Storing your dough in the fridge helps to harden the fat and prevent your cookies from spreading. Allow it to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

There are several reasons why the cookies may have become dry and crumbly but the two most likely are that either the cookies were baked for too long or too much flour was added to the dough.

Dough that's too airy.

The goal, usually, is to only incorporate the two ingredients without reaching the "light and fluffy" stage. When you mix the butter and sugar together at high speed or for too long, you'll aerate the dough excessively, causing the cookies to rise—and then fall—in the oven.

Put the cookie pieces together on the baking sheet. Gently mush the edges together to "glue" the cookies into each other as they bake. Sometimes gluing the cookies together is enough, if they are interlocked and share enough edges. Sometimes though... you need to add some "tape."