Christmas / Food and Drink
Dessert Recipes
If you're looking for an easy Christmas cookie recipe, these Pecan Pie Thumbprint Cookies are one of my favorites. Make these delicious pecan cookies today.
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Made with nutty dough and loaded with tart raspberry jam!
Making delicious baked snacks for kids is never easy. Sometimes kids might not like the taste, and other times, your snacks won’t please them. Argh, the task is stressful. I know this feeling. That’s why I have shared an easy jam thumbprint cookie recipe with you.
These are perfect bake-sale cookies. Or you can enjoy cookies with a glass of cold milk. I make these cookies almost every month, only to see the cookie jar empty in a week. That’s how much my family loves double pecan thumbprint cookies.
The sugar crunch with yummy pecan filling is what you need in a cookie. You can bake these super crunchy cookies for get-togethers or send them as a token of love to your loved ones.
Trust me, this simple pecan thumbprint cookie recipe will make you no less than a professional baker. Chances are people will ask you to teach them how to make pecan thumbprint cookies.
Sounds great, right? Scroll down to get the recipe!
Delicious Pecan Thumbprint Cookies With Jam
Thumbprint cookies with pecan and icing are festive enough for holidays. They have a mild flavor enough to be eaten every day. And they are soft enough to just melt in the mouth. Well, that’s a lot of reasons for making pecan pie thumbprints. Don’t you agree?
I started making butter pecan thumbprint cookies with the usual sugar dough. Later, I top each cookie with a yummy mixture of sugar, honey, and chopped pecans.
While my recipe calls for honey, you can use any jam. Be it pineapple jam, raspberry jam, mixed fruit jam, or anything else that your kids like. You can also get creative and mix a few jams. Whatever you do, make sure it tastes good.
There is no reason you should make these delicious thumbprint cookies only during the holiday season. Feel free to make them any time of the year to surprise your kids.
Ready to make brown sugar pecan cookies? Keep reading to get the recipe!
Tools/Equipment needed
How to Make Chewy Pecan Cookies
Making pecan thumbprint cookies requires only a few ingredients and less than one hour of your time. I have carefully divided the recipe into different parts for you to understand and learn it easily.
Step One:
Start the process of making healthy pecan cookies by preparing the cookie dough. For this, take a stand mixture or use a mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer. Combine cream butter, brown sugar, and salt until they get fluffy.
Add an egg and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Combine the ingredients well. Carefully scrape down the sides for even mixing. At last, add flour and combine. This way, your cookie dough will be ready.
Add more flour to make the dough less or more crumply. The more crumply your dough is, the easier you can press it to create a cookie shape.
Step Two:
Once the dough is prepared, use your hands to knead and roll 1-inch balls of dough. Then roll each ball in sugar and set them aside.
Step Three:
Make delicious easy pecan cookies topping by combining brown sugar, butter, and honey in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and occasionally stir until they boil.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool aside. Meanwhile, add pecans for extra flavors.
Step Four:
Take the cookie dough ball and place them on the baking sheet. Ensure the dough balls are placed 2 inches apart to be baked without breaking.
Use your thumb to make thumbprint pecan pie cookies. If there are too many cracks, pinch the edges so your baked cookie does not break in half.
Step Five:
Put the baking tray inside a preheated oven at 350 F for 14 minutes so the cookies get completely dry. Take the tray out of the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes.
Once your pecan butter cookies are cool, repress the walls and add pecan filling. Serve and enjoy with your kids.
Key Tips:
- Measure all the ingredients before adding them to the bowl to get the flavors right.
- If you want the dough balls to be completely smooth, roll them between your hands. If the dough balls have cracks, your baked cookies will also have cracks in them.
- An easy fix for the sticky dough is refrigerating them for a few minutes and then rolling them again.
- Putting dough balls on a cold baking sheet stops them from spreading and cracking. It’s an easy cookie hack that will always come in handy.
How to store pecan cookies?
Once you have prepared pecan cookies, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. This way, your cookies will stay crunchy for a few days.
Do not store the cookies in the refrigerator, as the moisture in the fridge will make them soggy.
What to serve with pecan cookies?
Thumbprint pecan cookies taste best with milk, hot chocolate, coffee, or tea.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 28 cookies
Difficulty: Easy
Equipment to Make Pecan Thumbprint Cookies:
Ingredients to Make Pecan Ball Cookies:
Cookies
- 3/4 cup sugar + sugar for rolling the dough in
- 1 cup butter; softened to room temp (2 sticks)
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
Filling
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/2 cup pecans finely chopped
Instructions to Make Pecan Cookies with Powdered Sugar
Filling
- Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
- Once done, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the pecans, and set aside to cool while you prepare your cookies.
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Meanwhile, mix the butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and salt until smooth.
- Add 1 1/2 cups flour, eggs, and vanilla extract. Beat until perfectly blended. Add more flour to make a crumply dough. Such cookie dough can be easily pressed with fingers without cracks.
- Knead and roll balls of cookie dough using your hand. Roll the cookie balls in the sugar and set aside.
- Put cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, about 1 to 2 inches apart. Use your thumb to create wells in the middle of the cookies. Pinch the edges to seal cracks.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the top of the cookies looks dry; remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
- Once cool, repress the wells if needed and add 1/4-1/2 tsp of the pecan filling.
Serve and enjoy!
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4.88 from 8 votes
Pecan Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
Pecan thumbprint cookies. Sugar thumbprint cookies filled with easy homemade pecan pie filling.
Servings 28 cookies
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 35 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
Equipment
Electric hand mixer
Ingredients
Filling
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tbs butter
- 3 tbs honey
- 1/2 cup pecans finely chopped finely chopped
Cookies
- 3/4 cup sugar + sugar for rolling the dough in
- 1 cup butter; softened to room temp (2 sticks)
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
Instructions
Filling
Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
Once done, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the pecans, and set aside to cool while you prepare your cookies.
Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, mix the butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and salt until smooth.
Add 1 1/2 cups flour, eggs, and vanilla extract. Beat until perfectly blended. Add more flour to make a crumply dough. Such cookie dough can be easily pressed with fingers without cracks.
Knead and roll balls of cookie dough using your hand. Roll the cookie balls in the sugar and set aside.
Put cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, about 1 to 2 inches apart. Use your thumb to create wells in the middle of the cookies. Pinch the edges to seal cracks.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the top of the cookies looks dry; remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
Once cool, repress the wells if needed and add 1/4-1/2 tsp of the pecan filling.
Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Do not overmix the dough. Overmixing cookie dough will result in the cookies spreading too thin in the oven.
The dough should be very flaky looking, but not powdery in the mixing bowl after incorporating the flour. Stop mixing once the flour is just incorporated.
If your dough is too powdery and unable to hold a ball form, add 2-3 tablespoons softened butter.
Author: Scrappy Geek
Cost: $8
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
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