Easiest Thumbprint Cookies Ever
It might be a complete washout all along the East Coast this Memorial Day weekend, but it’s the perfect kind of weekend for cozy sweaters, a fire, and baking something simple.
Instead of beaches, rooftops, and backyard gatherings, many of us are spending the holiday inside, listening to the rain.
As someone who studies food history and wellbeing, I think a lot about the foods people remember most. Usually, they are not complicated. They are the recipes that keep appearing at kitchen tables and backyard get-togethers on summer weekends.
Thumbprint cookies, sometimes called blossom cookies, are one of those foods.
The thumbprint version many Americans know today is thought to come from the Swedish hallongrotta, or “raspberry cave,” traditionally filled with jam. But versions of filled pastries and jam-centered cookies go back much further.
Archaeologists uncovered remarkably preserved pastries and cookies from a 1,300-year-old tomb along the Silk Road in Xinjiang, China. The Silk Road was a 4,000-mile trade route from Mongolia to the Mediterranean that carried textiles, spices, tools, recipes, ideas, and foods. I always say it was one of the earliest examples of global trade and culinary exchange.
So if you have ever made thumbprint cookies, congratulations. You have recreated a 1,300-year-old food tradition right in your own kitchen! While researchers still cannot say exactly what filled the center depressions, most believe it was some kind of fruit or jam.
For Memorial Day, I’m sharing with you my super-easy Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies filled with black raspberry preserves. I’ve also had great success with red raspberry, fig, and apricot preserves, too!
Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies
Makes 16 cookies
Ingredients
2 cups finely ground almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Black raspberry preserves
Directions
Arrange rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk almond flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Stir in maple syrup and vanilla until a sticky dough forms.
Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet about one inch apart.
Using the back of a wooden spoon or your thumb, gently press a well into each cookie.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges.
Cool completely, then spoon raspberry preserves into the center before serving.
Almond flour adds protein, fiber, magnesium, and healthy fats, which makes these cookies a little more satisfying than traditional versions. Black raspberry preserves also contain polyphenols and anthocyanins, the antioxidant compounds that give berries their rich color and health benefits.
Wishing you a wonderful Memorial Day weekend filled with good food and people you care about.
Copyright Thumbprint cookie adaptation by Lisa Roberts FOOD 2026; original almond cookie recipe by Elizabeth Barbone.