These tasty Red, White & Blue Thumbprint Cookies are all dressed up with the prettiest patriotic colored sprinkles and icing for a festive celebration.
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Cookie Alert! These bite-sized cookies are buttery, crunchy, very addictive, and maybe the most colorful cookies ever!
Thumbprint cookies are a classic and today's recipe is covered in lots of colorful bling for a very patriotic cookie to celebrate July 4th, Memorial Day, or any day you want a delicious and colorful treat.
I have a fondness for these July thumbprints and I also make them in red and pink for Valentine's Day Thumbprint Cookies for my sweetie, and these Apricot Jam Thumbprint Cookies are delicious anytime, but they always show up during the holidays.
And, if you want more 4th of July cookies both of these cookie recipes are fun, festive, and delicious. Bake these 4th of July Sugar Cookies Bars or these rolled Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles that have a surprise red cookie in the middle.
❤️Why we love these cookies
- Seriously, it's the sprinkles and the colorful icing that has us hooked.
- You gotta love an easy cookie recipe and this one has a no-fuss batter, with simple pantry ingredients made in one bowl.
- No chilling is required to make these cookies, just mix, roll into balls, roll in sprinkles, bake, and ice.
- These tasty cookies are buttery rich and have the perfect amount of sweetness.
- These are definitely a celebration cookie and you can easily change the sprinkles and icing colors to make your event or holiday extra special.
Ingredients
How To Make Thumbprint Cookies: Step-By-Step
I promise you won't be in the kitchen all day making these cookies, and you get to play with sprinkles!
Step 1. Set your oven to 350 degrees F., prepare a cookie sheet pan with parchment paper.
Step 2. In a large mixing bowl add the softened butter, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla and mix with a handheld mixer on medium speed until thoroughly combined. You can also mix this dough with a stand mixer.
Step 3. Add the flour and salt and mix at low speed until the flour is incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Step 4. Pour the sprinkles into a large bowl that will be big enough to roll the dough balls around.
Step 5. With a small cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, scoop out the dough and then roll the dough into 1" balls between the palms of your hands. Immediately after you make the dough ball, roll it in the bowl of sprinkles and place the ball on the cookie sheet.
It is important that you make the dough balls one at a time and roll them in the sprinkles. The sprinkles will only stick to the dough balls when they are warm and sticky from rolling the dough with your hands. If you let the dough balls sit too long they will get cool and harden and the sprinkles will not stick, then you will have bald cookie dough balls.
Step 6. Repeat making the sprinkle-covered dough balls and then using a teaspoon measuring spoon press down on the center of each cookie to make an indent. To do this the old-fashioned way just press your thumb into the dough ball to create the indentation.
Step 7. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, then remove them from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack. Sometimes the indentation will not be as deep once the cookies are baked; just press the teaspoon back into the indent to deepen it again.
Make the icing
Step 8. Make the icing by mixing the powdered sugar, corn syrup, and milk together in a medium-sized bowl.
Step 9. Separate the icing into three small bowls, usually about â…“ cup for each bowl. Add a drop of the red food coloring to one bowl and the blue food coloring to another bowl, and leave one bowl just white. Mix the food coloring into the white icing, and if needed add more food coloring to get the color you want.
Step 10. Once the cookies are completely cooled, use a small spoon to drop the icing into the cavity of each cookie.
Step 11. Let the cookies sit for an hour to harden the icing. Store in an airtight container for five days.
Celebrating with cookies
More delicious cookies
- Cookies with sprinkles are always a favorite and these Raspberry Sprinkle Cookies have a surprise middle layer to make these extra fun to eat.
- These favorite Ginger Spice Cookies have three types of ginger for a deliciously chewy cookie
- Try these Easy Raspberry Peach Crumb Bar that is buttery, fruity and so easy to make.
- These cookies are part of 15 Favorite 4th of July Desserts post. Make sure to check it out for some fabulous red, white, and blue desserts.
If the cookie dough cracks after you put the thumbprint in it just take your fingers and press the dough back together again.
Even though these cookies are called thumbprints because you are supposed to use your thumb to make an indent, I find it easier and prettier to use the teaspoon to make the deep indent. But for fun, make a few with your thumb!
You can freeze the baked and iced cookies in an airtight freezer container. If you are stacking the cookies, place a piece of parchment paper or wax paper between the layers. To defrost set the cookie out in a single layer.
Thank Sweden for these delectable thumbprint cookies. They call them Hallongrotta which are traditionally filled with jam.
Equipment needed
- Large mixing bowl
- Hand-held mixer (or a stand mixer)
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Cookie scoop - tablespoon size
- Medium-sized bowl
- Small whisk or fork
- Three small bowls
- Cookie sheets
More To Make And Eat
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Recipe
Patriotic Red, White & Blue Thumbprint Cookies
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Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 11/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup AP flour
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 5 ounces red, white and and blue sprinkles
Powdered sugar icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoons light corn syrup
- red gel food color
- blue gel food coloring
Instructions
Making cookie dough
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., and prepare cookie sheets parchment paper or a Silpat
- In a large mixing bowl add the softened butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix with a handheld mixer on medium speed until completely mixed and creamy. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. You can also use a stand mixer for this.
- Mix in the flour and salt at low speed until combined and the dough holds its shape.
- Place the nonpareils in a bowl big enough to roll the dough balls.
- Shape the dough into 1" balls using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, then immediately roll in the nonpareils. The warmth of your hands helps make the dough balls a little soft so the nonpareils will stick better.
- Place the balls 1" apart on the baking sheets and using a teaspoon measuring spoon press and indent into each cookie. You can also use your thumb to make the indent.
- Bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned, then remove from oven to cooling rack.
Making the powdered sugar icing
- Add the powered sugar to a medium-sized bowl and use a small whisk or a fork to break up any lumps in the sugar.
- Add the milk and corn syrup then mix until the icing is smooth.
- Separate the icing into three small bowls, about â…“ cup of each. Add a drop of red food coloring to one bowl, blue food coloring to another bowl then stir until the food coloring is combined. If you want a deeper color add a small amount of food color and stir.Now you have red, white and blue icing colors.
- With a small teaspoon drop icing into each cookies thumbprint. It usually takes about an hour for the icing to harden, at this point store the cookies in an airtight container for up to four day.
Notes
Try this other One Hot Oven Thumbprint Cookies Valentine's Day Thumbprints in red, pink and white, they are so pretty! Apricot Pecan Thumbprints are classic cookie to bake for the holidays.
Nutrition
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About Jere’
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven, sharing sweet and savory recipes with all my baking friends.
Whitney
Made these, except Easter themed. Also, used 3/4 tsp Vanilla and 3/4tsp Buttery Sweet Dough emulsion and they are soooo good. Like I can't stop eating them. And they don't even have the icing on yet.
The only thing is a Tbsp might be too big to use to scoop them. I have trouble eye balling things like that Once I switched to a 1/2 Tbsp to scoop they were perfect.
Elena Tucker
Yummy and beautiful! June 2022 Sprinkle Giveaway
Luann boydston
June 2022 sprinkle giveaway
Cindy
June 2022 Sprinkle Giveaway
Diana D
June 2022 Sprinkle Giveaway
Marion
These are so good
RickyLynn
June 2022 Sprinkle Giveaway
helene
"June 2022 Sprinkle Giveaway"
Marilyn wade
June 2022 sprinkle giveaway
Dawn
June 2022 Sprinkle Giveaway
Colleen Schaefer
June 2022 Sprinkle Giveaway
Elizabeth
Okay these are so much fun! Absolutely delicious and perfect for the 4th of July! Great recipe!
Mihaela | https://theworldisanoyster.com/
This must be a joy for kids to make and eat!:)) They look pretty and very patriotic, indeed:)
Toni
This is perfect!! A great addition to our patriotic menu for Fourth of July!! Thanks for the recipe!
Jere Cassidy
We love to set out a big platter of these cookies during our fireworks.
Oscar
Loved making these cookies with my kids, they had so much fun. They tasted even better, we all loved them. Thank you.