Hallongrottor - Swedish Jam Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

4.50 from 2 votes

Hallongrottor - Swedish Jam Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

These Swedish thumbprint cookies (AKA hallongrottor) have a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread crumb and flavoured with raspberry jam centres. And the bonus is that it's so easy and perfect to make with children.

This recipe has been carefully measured in grams and cups so you can also enjoy it in the UK and United States

Prep Time10

Cook Time14

Total Time24

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Swedish

Keyword: biscuits, cookies, jam, shortbread

Servings: cookies

Calories: 118kcal

Author: Vikkie Lee

Equipment

Ingredients

235 g Plain flour (1 + ½ cup All Purpose)
90 g Caster sugar (8 tbsp)
1 teaspoon Baking powder
200 g Salted butter (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) softened at room temperature
⅛ teaspoon Vanilla extract
70 g Raspberry jam (¼ cup) or more

Instructions

First, preheat your oven to 180c degrees Celsius, 200c conventional, gas mark 6 or 400F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Then in a large mixing bowl, stir all of the dry ingredients together.
Add the butter and vanilla extract.
Mix the the dough well until it forms a ball. You can do this with a wooden spoon, a stand mixer, or a food processor.
Using the palms of your hands, roll into small balls the size of ping pongs or 1 inch.
Now place them on a prepared baking tray about 2 inches apart to allow them to expand.
Using your thumb, knuckle, or the end of a utensil, make an indentation in the centre of each small cake.
Thumb tip: once you've poked your hole, swirl your thumb around a little to make them even.
Fill each center of the ball with about half a teaspoon of raspberry jam or more and bake for 14-15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies have started to turn golden brown.
Cool the cookies for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to fully harden.

Video

Notes

Tips

Use softened butter so that it's easier to combine the cookie dough and will result in a more even and less crumbly or cracked cookie
If you have patience, chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes for the fat to firm, for perfectly shaped balls
Avoid overbaking by only baking them until the edges have started to slightly brown
For perfect round jam thumbprint biscuits, space each ball at least 2 inches apart as they will spread out
Cool your cookies fully before eating so that they firm up (hard to resist, I know!!
For evenly sized cookies, you can shape the dough into a long roll of sausage and cut it into 24 slices before rolling each in your hands
For super easy thumbprint cookie bars you can press the dough in a lined 8x8" square baking dish and slice after baking

Substituions

Butter: substitute with dairy free vegan butter or a plant based baking block. However, we find dairy free results in a drier less buttery cookie
Sugar: swap for golden caster sugar or soft light brown sugar, but they will be more golden, crisp and caramelised. Or try sugar free natural sweetener
Vanilla extract: you can use almond extracts, orange or lemon essence
Flour: for gluten free thumb print cookies with jam, use ground oat flour (as I do for my healthy oat cookies), which also adds extra fibre
Raspberry jam: use whatever types of jam you have at hand, such as blueberry jam, strawberry, apricot, or even fill with chocolate hazelnut spread

Variations

Spiced: add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon for a warming touch or crushed cardamom seeds
Festive: at Christmas time, you could add lemon and orange zest with allspice, nutmeg, etc
Chocolate: swap 1 tablespoon of flour for cocoa powder and fill the thumb holes with Nutella or add chocolate chips to your cookie dough
Fruity: for a fruity shortbread cookie, mix in 100g of dried fruit
Nuts: add crushed or chopped nuts to the dough such as pistachio, ground almonds, walnuts, or pecans. You can swap the jam for peanut butter cookies
Glazed: for an extra special touch, drizzle a simple chocolate or icing sugar glaze, or a dusting of icing sugar
Heart-shaped: you can make heart shaped jam cookies by embossing with your thumb. Just press twice, where your thumb impressions meet at the bottom
Firmer: for a crumbly, firmer bite, you can swap 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 tablespoon of cornflour (corn starch) or potato starch

Storage

Store - to store thumbprint cookies, place them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. I also separate the layers with pieces of baking paper
Freeze - once cooled, store in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months, and defrost before eating

Nutrition