Easy Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies Recipe with Cherry Jam for the Holidays
These chocolate thumbprint cookies are a rich, fudgy cocoa cookie baked twice and filled with glossy cherry jam, a chocolate-cherry twist on the classic. They take about 50 minutes start to finish, make 20 cookies, and the double-bake step is what gives the wells their clean, deep shape.
Chocolate and cherry is one of those combinations that never gets old, and these cookies put it front and center. Unlike a one-and-done thumbprint, this recipe bakes the cookies plain first, then presses the indent in after, which sounds backwards until you see why it works so much better for a soft cocoa dough.
That double-bake step is also where most of the confusion happens, since it isn’t how most thumbprint cookies are made. I’ll walk through exactly when to press and why it matters.
If your dough feels too soft to roll right now, a quick chill will fix that before you even touch the oven.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Rich, fudgy chocolate cookie with a classic cherry jam center
- The double-bake method gives perfectly clean, deep wells every time
- No chocolate to melt or temper, just cocoa powder
- Freezes beautifully, baked or unbaked
- A chocolate-lover’s spin on a cookie tray classic
- Easy to swap the jam for raspberry or apricot if you’d rather
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (190g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup cherry jam, stirred smooth
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Cocoa powder: Natural unsweetened cocoa powder works best here and keeps the dough from turning bitter. Dutch-process cocoa also works, but sift it first — it clumps more than natural cocoa and leaves streaks if you don’t.
Cherry jam: Cherry and chocolate is the classic pairing, but raspberry or apricot jam both work well as a swap if that’s what’s in your fridge. Stir any jam smooth before filling so it spoons in evenly.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cream the Butter and Sugar
Beat the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. This is a soft, fudgy dough, so don’t shortcut this step — well-creamed butter is what keeps the cookies from spreading too thin once they hit the oven.
Step 2: Add the Vanilla
Beat in the vanilla extract until fully combined. The mixture will loosen slightly and turn glossy — that’s expected.
Step 3: Mix in the Flour and Cocoa
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together, then add it to the butter mixture on low speed just until combined. Chocolate dough hides visible dryness better than a plain dough does, so stop mixing the moment no dry streaks remain — overmixing here is what makes these taste tough instead of fudgy.
Step 4: Roll the Dough and Chill
Scoop the dough into 1-tablespoon balls and roll smooth. If the dough feels too soft or sticky to roll cleanly, that’s just the cocoa butter warming up — chill the whole bowl for 10 minutes and it firms right back up. Place the balls on a lined baking sheet.
Step 5: Bake Plain, First Pass
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake the plain dough balls for 8 to 9 minutes, until just set but not yet cracked on top. This first bake is what gives the dough enough structure to hold a clean, deep well — pressing an indent into raw dough tends to collapse or crack with a cocoa dough this soft.
Step 6: Press the Indent and Fill
While the cookies are still warm from the oven, press a well into the center of each one using the back of a rounded teaspoon — the dough is pliable right now, so the indent will hold its shape without cracking. Stir the cherry jam until smooth, then spoon about 1/2 teaspoon into each well.
Step 7: Bake Again and Cool
Return the filled cookies to the oven for 5 to 6 minutes more, just until the jam is glossy and set at the edges. Let them cool completely on the pan — the jam stays molten for several minutes after baking, and the cookies firm up as they cool.
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in vanilla extract.
- Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt; mix into wet ingredients until just combined.
- Roll into 1-tablespoon balls. Chill 10 minutes if dough feels too soft.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Bake plain dough balls 8-9 minutes, until just set.
- While warm, press a well into each cookie. Spoon in 1/2 tsp smooth cherry jam.
- Bake 5-6 minutes more, until jam is glossy and set.
- Cool completely on the pan before serving.
Notes
- The indent goes in after the first bake, not before — pressing raw dough leads to cracked or collapsed wells with this soft cocoa dough.
- If the rolled dough feels sticky, a quick 10-minute chill firms it right back up.
- Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients and will vary with brands and portion size.
A Chocolate-Lover’s Take on a Classic
The double-bake step sounds fussy on paper, but once you’ve done it once, it clicks — it’s really just baking, pressing, filling, baking again, with no part of it hard.
These hold up beautifully in the freezer, so they’re worth doubling for the holidays: bake and fill a double batch, then freeze them baked, jam and all, in a single layer before stacking. If you make these, I’d love to know in the comments how the cherry jam worked out for you.
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