Chocolate cherry thumbprint cookies - these delicious vegan cookies are easy to make and perfect for Christmas!
Consisting of rich chocolate shortbread cookies filled with cherry jam; they are crisp around the edges, soft in the middle and very, very moreish!
These chocolate cherry thumbprint cookies are a great addition to your festive cookie baking rota. Or they are wonderful at any time of year!
They are richly flavoured with the classic combination of chocolate and cherry, though you can of course use any variety of jam you like.
The delicious chocolate shortbread is crisp around the edges and soft in the middle, with a dollop of fruity jam to cut through the chocolate, making them very moreish!
What Do I Need To Make Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies?:
Vegan Block Butter: Please, for the love of holy baking, use a block butter/margarine to make these cookies, not the spreadable kind in a tub.
Spreadable will likely make the dough too soft, and the biscuits may be more tough as it contains more water. I recommend Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Butter.
Caster sugar: You can use granulated sugar instead if you don't have caster.
Don't use brown sugar, coconut sugar, sweeteners or liquid sugars as that will affect the texture of the cookies.
Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour is best here. I haven't tried making these gluten-free.
Cocoa powder: I use a dark, Dutch processed one (just regular cocoa powder to those of you in the UK).
Milk: A bit of unsweetened non-dairy milk replaces the usual egg in the dough, adding moisture. Any kind will work.
Vanilla and Almond Extracts: The almond extract is optional, but it works well with the cherry.
Jam: I obviously used cherry jam but you can use any flavour you like. Raspberry, blackcurrant or blackberry would all be delicious.
Try to avoid one with chunks of fruit as it will be more difficult to fill the indents.
How To Make Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Sift together the flour and cocoa powder.
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts and salt.
Add the dry ingredients and stir in until all the flour is moistened and no lumps of butter remain.
Drizzle over the milk and mix to form a dough. If it is too soft to work with, place the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour or so until it has firmed up a bit.
Using a 1 Tablespoon measure, scoop up some dough and use your hands to roll it into a ball.
Place the ball on a lined baking sheet and use the floured end of a wooden spoon or spatula, or a ¼ teaspoon measure, to make an indentation in the top. Press about halfway through the dough and wiggle the spoon around a bit to make the indentation wider.
Repeat with the rest of the dough, placing the shaped cookies spaced apart on the baking sheet.
Fill each indentation with about ½ teaspoon of jam, filling it right to the top. Place the trays of cookies in the freezer for 15 minutes, or the fridge for 30, while you preheat the oven.
Bake the chilled cookies for 18-20 minutes until they are firm to the touch and the jam is bubbling.
Top Tips:
As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Don't overwork the dough as that will make the cookies tough. Just knead it very briefly until it is smooth and then stop.
Despite the name, I don't recommend using your thumb to make the indentation in the cookies. You will get more uniform cookies by using the end of a wooden spoon or spatula. You can also use the back of a ¼ - ½ teaspoon measuring spoon.
Make the indentation immediately after rolling the dough into a ball, don't roll out all of the cookies then make all of the dents, do them one by one. This will help to avoid the dough cracking.
Chilling the cookies before baking them helps them to keep their shape and not spread too much.
The thumbprint cookies will be crisp around the edges on the day they are baked, after that they will become softer. I prefer them freshly baked.
How To Store Them:
These cookies are best eaten on the day they are baked, but they will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for around 4 days. They will become softer over time.
They can be frozen but I don't recommend making them in advance and freezing them, just freeze any leftovers.
However, you can freeze the unbaked cookies and bake them right from the freezer. In this case don't add the jam until you are ready to bake them. Freeze the cookies on a baking sheet until solid then transfer to a container and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Christmas Cookies:
- Vegan Linzer cookies
- Vegan pecan snowball cookies
- Vegan chocolate orange shortbread
- Vegan gingerbread cookies
- Vegan biscotti with cranberries and almonds
- Vegan shortbread fingers
- Vegan chocolate pistachio biscotti
- Double chocolate almond cookies
- Vegan vanilla sugar cookies
- Vegan Nussecken (German nut corners)
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
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Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 250 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 50 g (5 packed Tablespoons) cocoa powder
- 200 g (7oz / ½ + ⅓ cup) vegan block butter (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli Vegan Block) slightly softened
- 100 g (½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- pinch salt
- 2 Tablespoons non-dairy milk
- about 150 g (5 oz) cherry jam
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts and salt until smooth and creamy.
- Add the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until all of the flour is moistened and no lumps of butter remain.
- Drizzle over the milk and mix to form a dough. If it is too soft to work with, place the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour or so until it has firmed up a bit.
- Using a 1 Tablespoon measure, scoop up some dough and use your hands to roll it into a ball.
- Place the ball on the baking sheet and use the floured end of a wooden spoon or spatula, or a ¼ teaspoon measure, to make an indentation in the top. Press about halfway through the dough and wiggle the spoon around a bit to make the indentation wider.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough, placing the shaped cookies spaced apart on the baking sheets.
- Fill each indentation with about ½ teaspoon of jam, filling it right to the top. Place the trays of cookies in the freezer for 15 minutes, or the fridge for 30, while you preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Bake the chilled cookies for 18-20 minutes until they are firm to the touch and the jam is bubbling. I do 20 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes then carefully transfer them to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Once cool, store in an airtight container.
Notes
- All of my recipes are developed using grams and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- Make the indentation immediately after rolling the dough into a ball, don't roll out all of the cookies then make all of the dents, do them one by one. This will help to avoid the dough cracking.
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
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