Classic Thumbprint Cookies. Buttery and crumbly. Icing in the middle.
There are many different types of thumbprint cookies out there, this is one of my favorites. It is a shortbread type of cookie which means it is very buttery, melts in your mouth, & has a little crispness to it. My other favorite thumbprint cookie is my sister’s recipe but it is more of a sugar cookie type of thumbprint cookie.
This shortbread type of cookie reminds me of one of my favorite bakeries that made thumbprint cookies but they went out of business recently after being open for more then 80 years, opening in 1928. Makes me sad. I’m pretty positive they added almond extract to their recipe though and corn syrup to the icing to make it really hard when it dries.
Recipe makes about 32 cookies. If you want a small batch you can cut the recipe in half.
- 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter (I used salted)
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- -For the Icing-
- 2 Tablespoon butter (melted)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer combine the butter, flour, vanilla, & powdered sugar until well combined.
- Sccop dough by the spoonful and roll into 1" balls and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Use your thump to make an indent in the middle of each cookie (I dipped mine in a small bowl of sugar to prevent sticking each time).
- Bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges are just starting to turn golden.
- After 5 minutes, move to cooling rack.
- Prepare icing by hand mixing the ingredients together in a small bowl. If it is not thick enough you may need to add a touch more powdered sugar, if it is too thick add a little more milk.
- Use a knife to put the icing in the center of each cookie once they have cooled.
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