White Chocolate Cranberry Thumbprints

A delicate, buttery cookie with a sweet, tangy cranberry center, topped with a drizzle of smooth white chocolate. Perfect for festive occasions, cookie exchanges, or just because.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Christmas, cookie, cranberry, egg free, goodie tray, holiday, holiday tray, shortbread, thumbprint, white chocolate

Category Cookies

Baking Ambition Confident

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 15

Total Time 55

Servings

Calories 179kcal

Equipment

large saucepan
blender (or food processor)
fine mesh strainer
baking sheets
large mixing bowl
electric mixer
cookie scoop

Ingredients

Jam

3 ½ cups cranberries
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup orange juice
Scraped seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cookies

½ cup unsalted butter room temp
½ cup powdered sugar sifted
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups flour
¼ cup cranberry jam or more, as needed
¼ cup white chocolate chips melted and slightly cooled

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To make the jam:

Bring all ingredients to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the mixture begins to thicken.
3 1/2 cups cranberries, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup orange juice, Scraped seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
Using a stick blender, regular blender or food processor, puree the jam. Strain out the cranberry skin and vanilla bean (if used).
Allow jam to cool before using. (You will have more than needed for a single batch of the cookies, but the jam stores well in the fridge or freezer)

To make the cookies:

Preheat oven to 350° F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Add 1 cup of the flour, mix until a dough forms. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. If it is sticky, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time until the dough is the right consistency.
1 1/4 cups flour
Roll the dough into 1 tbsp or smaller balls and place 1” apart on the baking sheets.
Bake for 8 minutes, remove from oven, press a spoon back (I like to use the back of a 1 tsp measuring spoon) into the center of each cookie and fill the indentations with the cranberry jam.
1/4 cup cranberry jam
Return to oven and bake 8 minutes more - cookies should be fully set and lightly golden on the bottom, but should not have any color on top.
Cool completely on a wire rack, drizzle with melted white chocolate.
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Nutrition