Festive Thumbprints

Total Time Prep: 30 min. Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling
Yield about 4 dozen
Test Kitchen Approved
I never cared for jam-filled thumbprints, so I decided to fill them with frosting instead. This makes them easy to ship, which you can’t do with the sticky jam filling. I sent these to my daughter while she was serving in Iraq, and they made the long haul in perfect condition. —Wendy Schlueter, Babbitt, Minnesota

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Colored sprinkles or nonpareils
  • FILLING:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1/4 cup 2% milk
  • 8 ounces white candy coating
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Red and green food coloring

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Place sprinkles in a shallow bowl or bowls.
  2. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; dip tops in sprinkles. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press a deep indentation in center of each with your thumb. Bake until edges are light brown, 10-12 minutes. Using a wooden spoon handle, enlarge any indentations that may have narrowed or closed. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
  3. For filling, bring sugar, butter and milk to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add candy coating and vanilla; stir until smooth. Divide filling between 2 bowls. Using food coloring, tint filling in 1 bowl red and in the other bowl green. Spoon fillings into indentations; let stand until set.

Nutrition Facts

1 cookie: 114 calories, 6g fat (4g saturated fat), 17mg cholesterol, 53mg sodium, 14g carbohydrate (10g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein.

I never cared for jam-filled thumbprints, so I decided to fill them with frosting instead. This makes them easy to ship, which you can’t do with the sticky jam filling. I sent these to my daughter while she was serving in Iraq, and they made the long haul in perfect condition. —Wendy Schlueter, Babbitt, Minnesota
Recipe Creator

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