These super easy gluten free thumbprint cookies take simple, lightly sweet butter cookies to the next level with your choice of fillings. Fill with jam before you bake, or chocolate ganache afterward!
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Why these gluten free thumbprint cookies recipe are so special
The cookie dough isn't very sweet at all—which is just what we want. It has only 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, combined with 1 1/4 cups gluten free flour blend, and 1/2 cup butter.
The delicate sweetness of the cookie dough makes these cookies perfect for rolling in granulated sugar—and filling with something sweet.
After the cookie dough is shaped into rounds, we roll each pieces in a bit of granulated sugar. That creates a super thin, crackly shell in the oven.
When you bite into the thin, crispy outer shell of each cookie, first you'll find the most tender butter cookie. Then, your favorite filling inside.
Maybe you're partial to a jammy, baked filling. Or you might prefer a smooth, unbaked simple chocolate ganache.
Tips for filling gluten free thumbprint cookies with jam
The most classic thumbprint cookie is filled with jam. They're the easiest type to make, too, since we create the hole and fill it with jam before baking.
When the jam bakes into the hole of the cookie it does two things. It keeps the hole from closing at all during baking, and it thickens the jam, so it has the perfect baked texture.
Can I add jam to my thumbprint cookies after baking?
Yes, you can add the jam after baking. Let's say you decided to leave your thumbprint cookies unfilled, and then decide you'd like to fill them with jam.
If you plan to travel with or store the cookies at all, I wouldn't add jam after baking. It won't dry down at all, and will be quite messy.
But if you serve them right away, fresh, shiny jam in your thumbprint cookies will be beautiful. It'll taste delicious too!
Is jam gluten free?
Pure jam should be gluten free. It's made with nothing more than fruit, sugar, pectin and perhaps a preservative like citric acid.
Some brands of jam aren't certified gluten free, since they may be contaminated with gluten-containing ingredients. All of Bonne Maman's products are gluten free, so you can stick to those to be sure.
Tips for filling gluten free thumbprint cookies with chocolate
To fill thumbprint cookies with chocolate, create the holes in your cookies, and then bake them without filling them. If you were to add chocolate, or even chocolate ganache, to the filling before baking, the chocolate will become unpleasantly dry.
I don't recommend filling your baked thumbprint cookies with simple melted chocolate. It will set and be kind of crunchy in the center of your beautifully tender, buttery thumbprint cookies.
Instead, try filling your thumbprint holes with the simplest chocolate ganache. All it takes is 2 ounces of chopped chocolate, and 1 fluid ounce of heavy whipping cream.
Melt the chocolate and cream together by heating the cream and letting it sit with the chocolate. Mix until smooth, and pour into the baked cookies.
When the filling sets, it will be only slightly less firm than the butter cookies beneath it. I can't wait for you to taste that perfect texture combination!
How do I keep my thumbprint cookies from spreading too much?
Your butter, or vegan butter, must be at the proper temperature when you begin to make this dough. They're made by beating room temperature butter until it's light and fluffy.
The proper temperature is cool room temperature, or about 65°F. If your butter is too warm, it won't beat properly and the cookies may spread more in the oven.
If you're accustomed to bringing butter to room temperature by microwaving it, you'll find that that won't work in these cookies at all. You'll be able to tell because the butter won't become fluffy during beating, and the cookie dough will feel greasy.
The cookies will still taste delicious, though! They just won't hold their shape as well.
If the butter is at just the right temperature, but you just don't beat it enough, your cookie dough will be stiffer than you expect. The baked cookies will also be a bit less tender.
But again, they'll still taste delicious. They're homemade, after all!
Are these butter cookies? Shortbread? Sugar?
These easy jam thumbprint cookies are butter cookies. All three varieties of blonde cookies, butter, shortbread, and sugar cookies, are made mostly with the same ingredients.
They each have a similar taste, too. But they're very distinct in texture and even different in flavor.
What are gluten free butter cookies?
Butter cookies are made with just gf flour, sugar, butter and egg yolks. That's basically how you make spritz cookies.
If you're putting the dough through a cookie press, you need all the same ingredients, but in slightly different amounts. That's how we make a stiffer cookie dough that can make it through that press.
Here, we're rolling the dough into balls, creating a hole in the center which we fill with jam or leave empty, for later filling. The dough can be a bit softer.
What are gluten free shortbread cookies?
Shortbread cookies are the simplest cookies around, as they're made with flour, sugar, and butter. That's it. No eggs, no milk, no water.
Shortbread cookies are more delicate than butter cookies. They don't have an egg or egg yolk to help bind them.
Check out our whipped gluten free shortbread cookies. They even have a delicate jam filling, too!
What are gluten free sugar cookies?
Sugar cookies are more like “regular” cookies. They have a full egg, not just an egg yolk.
Sugar cookies are made with our classic butter, sugar, and gf flour mixture. But they also have a chemical leavener (baking powder, usually).
Sugar cookies can be made as drop gluten free sugar cookies, or as cut-out gluten free sugar cookies, too.
Since sugar cookies are much less delicate than butter cookies, they're much easier to ship for the holidays.
Ingredient information and substitution suggestions for gluten free thumbprint cookies
How to make gluten free dairy free thumbprint cookies
If you need to replace the butter in this recipe, I recommend using vegan butter. My favorite brands are Miyoko's Kitchen and Melt.
You can also try butter-flavored Spectrum non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening in place of the butter. Be sure the shortening is at cool room temperature, and it should become fluffy when you beat it.
If you make the cookies with the jam filling, there's nothing else to replace to make these cookies dairy free.
If you'd like to make chocolate ganache filling, try using canned coconut cream in place of heavy whipping cream. You'll only use the cream, no liquid, from a can of coconut milk.
I like semi-sweet chocolate, since the cookies themselves aren't very sweet, but it's a matter of taste. Just be sure your chocolate is dairy free if that's important.
Can you make gluten free egg free thumbprint cookies?
I'm afraid I don't know of any proper substitution for the egg yolk. The egg yolk adds texture, mouth feel, and helps bind the cookie dough.
I haven't tried it, but I've read that pureed silken tofu can be an effective substitute. You could also try an additional tablespoon of butter, for richness, but melt it and add it when you do the egg yolk.
How to make gluten free thumbprint cookies, step by step
Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies (Buttery Soft)
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ⅓ cup (38 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 (25 g) egg yolk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups (175 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; click through for details)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
To fill with jam
- 2 ounces seedless strawberry jam (alternative jam suggestions: apricot or raspberry)
To fill with chocolate ganache
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the butter and beat until light and creamy.
- Add the egg yolk, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and salt, mixing to combine well after each addition. Add the flour and xanthan gum, and mix until just fully combined. The cookie dough should be thick but not stiff.
- Scoop the dough into portions about 2 teaspoonful each with a 1-inch cookie scoop or 2 spoons and place about 1 1/2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Roll each mound of dough lightly into a ball, without packing the dough, then roll each ball in the granulated sugar to coat on all sides, and replace on the baking sheet.
- Using an index finger, dowel or the back end of a wooden spoon, poke a deep hole in the center of each ball about 1/2-inch wide and 3/4-inch deep. Do not chill the dough.
- To fill the cookies with jam, warm the jam slightly in the microwave to make it thickly pourable. Using a small spouted measuring cup or a small spoon, fill each of the holes with the jam.
- To fill the cookies with chocolate ganache, leave the holes empty.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cookies are set and just beginning to brown around the edges (10 to 12 minutes).
- Remove from the oven. If you've filled your cookies with jam, allow them to cool on the baking sheet, undisturbed, for at least 10 minutes or until firm.
- If your cookies are hollow, check for any holes that have begun to close up, and press them down again gently. Then make the chocolate ganache.
To fill with chocolate ganache
- Place the chopped chocolate in a small heat-safe bowl. Heat the heavy whipping cream in a small, heavy-bottom saucepan or a microwave safe bowl just until it begins to simmer.
- Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and allow the mixture to sit until the chocolate begins to melt. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Using a spouted measuring cup or a small spoon, pour the ganache into the well of each cookie. Allow the filling to set at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Notes
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Darren says
I ended up cooking these for 25 minutes, thought maybe the oven was broken but baked muffins correctly there after… I’m not sure what I did wrong, but they never really browned they only dried out (but definitely more akin to butter cookies). I’ll try playing with the recipe, because the flavor is good just need a way to preserve a little moisture so that they are soft’ish instead of being extra crunchy (and not trust to hope for browning of them).
Nicole Hunn says
If your cookies didn’t brown at all on the bottom, and you’re having an issue with moisture, my guess is that you aren’t using one of my recommended flour blends. The things I recommend checking when a recipe doesn’t work out as expected are always first, the flour blend, then other ingredient substitutions, and measuring by weight, not volume.
Darren says
Ah yes, I see now!
I used Bob’s Red Mill (which works for a number of things but definitely not all), though I wonder what ingredient(s) made it cook like that. Like I said I really liked the flavor (minus the dryness) and Everyone (mainly women) that tried the cookies really liked them too!
I meant to give 5 stars because of how easy these are to make and the good flavor too (and it was fun to roll them in sugar to add an extra gritty taste pleasure).
Thank you for this recipe!
Nicole Hunn says
Bob’s Red Mill blends are poorly balanced, use gritty rice flour which doesn’t combine fully with other ingredients, and are of inconsistent quality. That’s why I recommend so explicitly against them, although it seems to anger a lot of people. I know how available and how well priced the blends are, and I wish I could recommend them in good conscience, but they simply provide poor results.
Sara Restivo says
These were easy to make! I made them for my husband to take to work, and they were even complimented by a Walt Disney World pastry chef!
Carly says
These were amazing! I followed your tips about the room temp butter and egg yolk, thank you, the cookies were the perfect texture. I substituted almond flavor instead of vanilla, since the recipe I used for many years prior used almond. My husband could not tell they were gluten free! Will be making another batch soon.
Nicole Hunn says
That’s great to hear, Carly! Yes, room temperature ingredients are key. I love almond extract in simple cookies like this, too!
Kathleen M Craun says
Hi,
Can you freeze the dough. I need to make several batches and it would help if I could. You might have written that in the tips but I don’t see it. However, I’m baking like crazy and I’m old. I might have missed it. Thank you for your time. I have baked these last year and the year before. They are very good. No one every suspect them to be gluten free and are always delighted. Thank you for your time and your recipes. I’ve used many. I’ve baked for many years and have to be gluten free now. I appreciate the work you’ve done to get these goodie recipes to us. Kathie Craun
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Kathie, I actually think I didn’t cover that question in the tips in this particular post! Since this dough is baked at room temperature, and not chilled, I really don’t recommend freezing the unbaked dough. But, the cookies themselves freeze really well. I’d make them completely, then freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet. They’re somewhat fragile, though, so I don’t recommend piling them into a bag even after they’re frozen.
Deanna Smith says
I am searching for recipes as am celiac , will try the jam drops as we call them here in New Zealand.
Nicole Hunn says
I hope you’ll consider not rating the recipe 3 stars when you haven’t tried it or formed a negative opinion about it, Deanna. And I love the name “jam drops”!
Jennifer says
I was able to make the egg-free version with a 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt as a substitute. I also substituted the confectioners sugar with a 50/50 milk of Bakers sugar and tapioca starch.
Orlanda says
Dear Nicole, I love your recipes but I need to know how many carbs are in these cookies… my grandson saw them but he has Type1 Diabetes and also is Celiac. Do you have any idea?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid I don’t, no, Orlanda. I recommend you plug the ingredients, including the components of the flour blend you use, into an online nutrition calculator. That’s what I would do!
WandaK says
I’ve learned lots from you. Thanks. I’ll love this cookie recipe when it cools down a bit outside, and the biscuits.
Nicole Hunn says
You’re so welcome, Wanda!
Nancy James says
Does this recipe double well? I need way more of these!
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, Nancy! It doubles great. Just be sure to measure your ingredients by weight, not by volume.