Classic Thumbprint Cookies

This jam thumbprint cookie recipe combines a buttery shortbread-ish base with whatever fruity flavor you like best. While raspberry jam is standard, feel free to deploy apricot or strawberry jam—or any of Bonne Maman’s impressive lineup (or any favorite jam brand you keep in stock)—to turn these into your new favorite cookies. Want to take this year’s holiday cookie tin even further off-tradition? Make pecan thumbprints, peanut butter thumbprints with chocolate ganache, honey-sweetened cookies filled with pistachio paste or lemon curd, or grated shortbread cookie bars with rose jam.

You can also play with the flavor of the base. Add in about ¼ tsp. almond extract, ½ tsp. ground cinnamon or cardamom, lemon or orange zest, or swap the vanilla for something from your bar cart. Craving more pizzazz? Roll the dough balls in sanding sugar or sprinkles before pressing them into their thumbprint shape and filling them with the jam. If you’re confused about how to get the powdered sugar on them without covering the jam, don’t be. The sugar will stick to the cookie’s edges, while the portion that lands on the jam will be absorbed and disappear.