Salad in a Jar

and other secrets of a home economist

Thumbprints: The Most Popular Cookies at Our House on Christmas

Thumbprint Cookies are the most popular cookie at our house on Christmas.  By far! They are a traditional party cookie formed into balls, then rolled in pecans. Marbleize the frosting for a fancy touch.

THUMBPRINT COOKIES

At the beginning of this blog, my husband of 33 years asked when I was going to post thumbprint cookies. He kept asking. Then he asked again. And again. I think he was just wanting to eat them.

Holiday Thumbprint Cookies

Finally…

Christmas is almost here. So are Christmas Thumbprint Cookies.  My man is happy. (If only it was always that simple.)

Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

The original recipe is simple–straight out of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book, copyright 1963.

This book was obviously my mom’s. I was too young to be cooking anything in 1963. Wasn’t I???

Never mind that last paragraph. Sorry I even brought it up.

Let’s get on with it…

How to form Christmas Thumbprint Cookies :

storyboard thumbprint cookies_edited-1.jpg
Use a spring-loaded dipper to make small dough balls. Dip each ball into frothy egg whites. Last, roll balls in chopped pecans before putting them on a cookie tray.

This is how you do that swirl thing:

Instead of using a solid color icing, drop the tiniest amount of liquid food coloring into a bowl of icing. 

icing storyboard_edited-1.jpg

Without stirring, carefully use a spoon to pick up a little of the color. However, try to get mostly white icing.  Then use a second spoon to push the icing on to the cookie.  This process will slightly mix and swirl the color.  It really doesn’t take much extra effort.

Yield: 16 cookies

Christmas Thumbprint Cookies

Christmas Thumbprint Cookies
A shortbread cookie rolled in pecans and decorated with a festive swirled icing.
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
  • Icing:
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

Icing:

  • 1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream shortening, butter, brown sugar, egg yolk and vanilla. Add flour and salt. Combine well.
  3. Roll dough into balls. Using a small ice cream dipper will aid in uniformity.
  4. Beat egg white slightly with fork. Dip balls in egg white, then roll in chopped pecans.
  5. Place balls on ungreased baking sheet, (I use a silicone baking mat) about 1 inch apart.
  6. Place in oven 1 minute. Remove and use your finger to quickly press indentation into the center of each cookie. Place back in the oven for another 10-12 minutes or until the pecans are toasty. Remove from oven and immediately use your finger to repress the indentation into the middle of the cookies.
  7. Make the icing while cookies bake. Add color using process described above. Or leave the icing uncolored. Or stir in food coloring to make uniform color. It's your preference. Many people do jelly--but not at my house.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 326 Total Fat: 21g Saturated Fat: 8g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 12g Cholesterol: 44mg Sodium: 131mg Carbohydrates: 33g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 19g Protein: 4g
© Paula of saladinajar.com
Cuisine: American / Category: Dessert
Festive Thumbprint Cookies with a swirled icing--perfect for a Christmas cookie tray.

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  1. next time fill the “prints” with maraschino cherry frosting!

    Ingredients
    1 cup butter, room temperature
    2 lbs powdered sugar
    2 Tbsp chopped maraschino cherries
    6 Tbsp juice from maraschino cherry jar (plus more if needed)
    1 tsp almond extract
    Instructions
    Beat softened butter in a large mixing bowl until completely smooth and fluffy. Add the chopped cherries.
    Gradually beat in about two cup of powdered sugar.
    Beat in the maraschino cherry juice and almond extract until completely combined.
    Gradually beat in the rest of the powdered sugar, about a cup at a time.
    If your frosting is too thick, beat in additional maraschino cherry juice one teaspoon at a time.

    Reply

  2. Hi Paula, I made these for a Christmas party last night and they were delicious! I made two batches: one rolled in pecans with green swirl frosting and one rolled in shredded coconut with red swirl frosting. Both looked beautiful and tasted great. I have always done thumbprint cookies with jam but I like the frosting much better. Thanks for the good idea and good recipe.

    Reply

  4. What if you stirred peppermint flavoring into the icing. I thought these were peppermint toppped cookies when I saw the photo – might be good!?!?

    Reply

  9. I LOVE my BC Cooky Book (or, my mom’s – originally). It’s where I turn to first for “what to make”! These look great – I love how you improvised the the “thumb”! Innovative and festive – definitely worth a post! Happy Holidays!

    Reply