• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Features
    • Cookbook Reviews
    • Ingredient of the Week
    • Sunday Dinner
    • Fitness Goals
  • Travel
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Work With Me

Katie at the Kitchen Door

Globally-inspired, seasonal recipes

2 December 13, 2014 Dessert

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I have to admit to you all, I’m having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. I feel as though I’ve said this before, and when I look back at posts from past years, I see similar sentiments. It’s a busy time of year, and I’m struggling to be excited and engaged instead of just feeling kind of run down. I think the underlying problem is that so much of what I do every day feels like another item on my checklist, and not enough is spontaneous or just for fun. I’m hoping that this feeling starts to go away once I get some major things off my plate: my economics final next week, and a few big client deadlines coming up. And starting now, I’m going to try and focus on building more relaxation and spontaneity into my day-to-day.

European-Style Hot Chocolate {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Gingerbread Thumbprints {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I am trying to get in the spirit, though – to be thoughtful, and joyous, and rested. We’ve been cranking up the Christmas carols when we’re cooking, we put up and decorated our tree this week, I made the first batch of Christmas cookies and shared them at work, and I tried to go to Mass last weekend (it turned out that it was not actually Mass but a caroling concert put on by the Harvard Catholic choir – I still get credit for that, right?). I’m also sitting by the tree to write this post, hoping maybe it’s sweet smell and calming lights will wear off on me (it’s kind of working, too). So with two weeks to go, I think there’s still hope for me and Christmas this year.

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Although this post itself may not be very Christmasy, I assure you that these cookies will make up for it. The cookie is dark, soft, and a little spicy, based more on a molasses chew than traditional gingerbread men. I chose cherry jam because I’ve been a little bit obsessed with the Bonne Maman cherry preserves we bought for this Chocolate Cherry Crepe Cake, and I’ve been putting it on pretty much everything, but other jams or jellies would work well too. Most thumbprint cookie recipes have you bake the thumbprints with the jam already in them, but since these cookies will rise and flatten quite a bit, I chose to repeat the indentation process immediately after taking them out of the oven, and then fill them with hot jam. The jam will dry thick and shiny, and these will still be very transportable. Plus they’ll look much neater than if you filled them pre-baking. I also thought these pictures needed a little oomph, so I whipped up a batch of one of my very favorite holiday indulgences – European-style hot chocolate – and spiked it with Cointreau for good measure. If anything will help put you in the Christmas spirit, it’s thick and boozy melted chocolate served steaming hot. In fact, maybe I better go make another batch right now and get this weekend started off right.

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam

Cookie base adapted loosely from Bon Appetit and America’s Test Kitchen. Makes ~30 cookies.

  • 2 c. flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1/3 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. dark molasses
  • 10 TBS butter, melted
  • 1/2 c turbinado sugar, for rolling
  • 1/2 c. cherry jam
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt until evenly combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolk, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the molasses and melted butter and whisk until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together just until combined. Chill the dough for 20 minutes.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the turbinado sugar onto a plate or small bowl. Break off ping pong ball sized pieces of the cookie dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls through the turbinado sugar and place on the baking sheet. Use your thumb or forefinger to make a deep imprint in the center of each cookie. Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes. When you take them out, immediately reinforce the imprints (which will have risen slightly) by using the back of a teaspoon to press the circle back into them.
  3. Heat the cherry jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is simmering gently. Simmer for 1 minutes, then remove from heat and spoon 1 teaspoon of the hot jam into the center of each cookie. Let cookies cool completely.
2

Share this:

  • Tweet

Categories: Dessert Tags: baking, cherry, christmas, cookie, Dessert, gingerbread, holiday, jam, party, sweet

Previous Post: « Book Club: Mexico: The Cookbook // Slow-Cooked Pork in Tequila, and a Giveaway!
Next Post: Peppermint Bark Brownies »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Eileen says

    December 13, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    This is such a great idea! I heart both gingerbread and jam-based desserts (doesn’t everyone?) so I am all over these. So good!

    Reply
  2. kelli says

    December 13, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    i hear you about lacking christmas spirit
    and no wonder
    the “holiday” has become something to avoid
    crazy shopping, spending, buying, pushing, shoving, STRESS
    no
    i do wish it would all go back to being about gathering, friends, family and food
    not crazy amounts and styles of food either
    why do people put them selves through so much stress
    it is supposed to be a joyful time, no?
    so until our society can change, i’m with you
    leave christmas for someone else
    i’m making dinner for my friends instead

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe!

Get creative recipes and menu ideas delivered straight to your inbox.

Most Popular

A House // Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils

Monthly Fitness Goals: July // Homemade Spinach Wraps with Chopped Greek Salad

A New Job // Classic Seven-Layer Bars

Butternut Squash Carbonara with Fried Sage and Caramelized Onions

Happy Birthday, Trevor! // Peanut Butter Fudge

Cookbook Review and Giveaway: Home Made Winter

Drizly

Please note!

Full disclosure: if you purchase anything at Amazon using the above links or any other links to Amazon on this site, I will receive a small commission. Just so you know!

Copyright© 2025 · Cookd Pro Theme by Shay Bocks

This site uses cookies: Find out more.