Easy Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies Recipe with Strawberry Jam
These peanut butter thumbprint cookies are soft, nutty peanut butter cookies baked twice and filled with warm strawberry jam, a classic PB&J pairing in cookie form. They take about 45 minutes start to finish, make 22 cookies, and the dough is baked plain first so the indent holds its shape.
Peanut butter and jam together is one of those flavor pairings that never needs explaining, and this cookie just leans into it. Like the chocolate and Twix versions, these get a first bake plain, then the indent goes in while the cookie is still warm and pliable, which is what keeps the edges from cracking wide open the way they do when you press cold or raw dough.
The timing on that press is what trips people up most, so I’ll walk through exactly how warm the cookie should be.
If your dough feels a little dry and crumbly before baking, that’s completely normal for peanut butter dough, and it bakes up perfectly soft anyway.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Soft, nutty peanut butter cookie with a warm jam center
- A classic PB&J flavor pairing baked right into the cookie
- The press-while-warm method means almost no cracking
- Simple pantry ingredients, no mixer tricks required
- Freezes well both as baked cookies and shaped dough
- A lunchbox and cookie-tray favorite all at once
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (130g) creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup (70g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (70g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups (155g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup strawberry jam, warmed
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Peanut butter: Stick with regular creamy peanut butter here, not the natural kind that separates — natural peanut butter makes the dough greasy and harder to hold a clean indent.
Jam: Strawberry is the classic PB&J match, but grape or raspberry jam both work well if that’s what you have on hand. Warm whichever one you use so it spoons in smoothly.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cream the Butter, Peanut Butter, and Sugars
Beat the softened butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. This step builds the texture that keeps the cookie soft instead of dense once baked.
Step 2: Add the Egg and Vanilla
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully combined. The mixture will loosen slightly, which is expected.
Step 3: Fold in the Dry Ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together, then fold it into the wet ingredients just until combined. Peanut butter dough looks drier and more crumbly than a regular cookie dough at this stage — that’s normal, not a sign to add more butter.
Step 4: Roll and Bake Plain, First Pass
Scoop the dough into 1-tablespoon balls, roll smooth, and place on a lined baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until just set and slightly cracked on top. This first bake gives the dough enough structure to take a clean indent without collapsing.
Step 5: Press the Thumbprint While Warm
As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press a well into the center of each one using the back of a rounded teaspoon — do this while they’re still warm, not after they’ve cooled. A warm cookie is pliable enough to take the indent cleanly; a cooled one is far more likely to crack at the edges.
Step 6: Fill with Warmed Jam
Warm the jam for about 10 seconds in the microwave, or gently on the stove, just until it’s loose enough to spoon smoothly. Fill each well with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
Step 7: Bake Again and Cool
Return the filled cookies to the oven for 4 to 5 minutes more, just until the jam looks glossy and set at the edges. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan before moving them — the jam needs a few minutes to firm back up.
Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Cream butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt; fold into wet ingredients until just combined.
- Roll into 1-tablespoon balls. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake plain dough balls 8-9 minutes, until just set.
- While warm, press a well into each cookie.
- Warm jam until smooth; spoon about 1/2 tsp into each well.
- Bake 4-5 minutes more, until jam is glossy and set.
- Cool completely on the pan before serving.
Notes
- Press the indent while the cookies are still warm from the oven — a cooled cookie is much more likely to crack at the edges.
- The dough looks dry and crumbly before baking; that’s normal for peanut butter dough and bakes up soft anyway.
- Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients and will vary with brands and portion size.
A Classic PB&J Cookie for Any Tray
Once you’ve pressed that first warm cookie and seen how cleanly it holds, the rest of the batch goes fast. It really is just bake, press, fill, bake again.
These are easy to double for a crowd, and the dough freezes well if you want to bake a smaller batch now and save the rest for later. If you give these a try, I’d love to hear which jam you used — leave a comment and a star rating below.
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