Guava Jam Thumbprint Cookies (Printer-Friendly)

Buttery cookies with sweet guava centers ready in 35 minutes

# What You Need:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1/4 teaspoon salt

→ Wet Ingredients

03 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
04 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
05 - 1 large egg
06 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ Filling

07 - 1/2 cup guava jam

# Directions:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt; set aside.
03 - In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
04 - Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
05 - Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until a soft dough forms.
06 - Scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough and roll them between your palms. Place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
07 - Using your thumb or the back of a rounded teaspoon, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball.
08 - Fill each indentation with approximately 1/2 teaspoon of guava jam.
09 - Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are just lightly golden.
10 - Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

# Expert Suggestions:

01 -
  • They look fancy enough to impress but honestly require zero baking experience or complicated techniques.
  • The guava jam adds this unexpected tropical brightness that regular cookies could never pull off, and everyone tries to guess the secret ingredient.
  • You can have 24 cookies cooling on the rack in just 35 minutes, which makes them perfect for those moments when you need something homemade but don't have hours to spend.
02 -
  • Overfilled cookies burst their jam all over the pan, which I learned the hard way and then had to scrape off half-baked guava from hot parchment paper.
  • Room temperature butter is absolutely non-negotiable because cold butter won't cream properly, and you'll end up with dense, sad cookies instead of light, tender ones.
  • The moment you pull them from the oven, they still look underdone on top, but that's exactly right because the residual heat finishes the job while they cool.
03 -
  • Room temperature ingredients mix together smoothly and create a lighter, fluffier dough that bakes more evenly, so take the time to let everything sit out before you start.
  • Rolling the dough balls between your palms keeps them uniform in size, which means they all bake at the same rate instead of some finishing before others.
  • Baking at 350°F instead of higher temperatures gives you a slower, more controlled bake that keeps the cookies tender instead of crispy.
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