Elevate your holiday baking with festive Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies. Made with just four simple ingredients, these cookies are vegan, gluten-free, and absolutely irresistible!
If you have leftover cranberries after making the sauce, try my Cranberry Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies or Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Thumbprint Cookie Recipe
Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies are the easiest dessert you’ll make this holiday season. The cookie dough comes together right in your mixer and the entire process from start to finish takes only 30 minutes! These cookies are perfect for a holiday party or a sweet homemade gift or even for a cookie exchange with your friends and neighbours.
I love this recipe because it lets you turn healthy ingredients into delicious cookie perfection! For similar healthy cookie recipes, be sure to check out my Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies and Sugar-free Nutella Thumbprint Cookies.
How To Make Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- Butter — To make these cookies vegan, feel free to use vegan butter or unsalted butter.
- Sugar (granulated sugar)— You can also use your preferred natural sweetener.
- Vanilla extract — A splash of vanilla extract adds a nice, warm flavor.
- Almond flour — The almond flour makes the cookies gluten-free and low-carb.
- Cranberry sauce — I use my homemade cranberry sauce, but sugar-free cranberry jam also works great.
ps: This cranberry thumbprint cookies doesn’t require egg, salt or purpose flour.
Instructions
Prepare the cookie dough:
- Before you begin, preheat the oven to 350°F and line your baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Fit your electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until it becomes fluffy. Then, whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Add ½ cup of almond flour at a time, mixing the dough until it is well combined.
- Note: The dough will be a little crumbly, but it will stick together when you shape the cookies.
Press and shape the cookie dough:
- Scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough and press it together to form a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Then, with the tip of your thumb, press an indentation into each ball. If the dough cracks, you can re-seal it by smoothing it out with your fingers, but it’s also totally fine to have a few cracks.
Bake and fill the cookies:
- Place the cookies in your preheated oven and bake for 12-14 minutes until they’re golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes, as they will be very fragile when they come out of the oven.
- Using a small spoon, fill each cookie (center of each ball) with ½ teaspoon of homemade cranberry sauce or cranberry jam.
Serve and enjoy:
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, transfer them to a container or serving dish and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- You can use a piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner cut to easily fill the middle of the cookies with cranberry sauce or jam.
- The cookies are fragile when they’re hot, so let them cool completely before you transfer them.
- These cookies don’t spread much when they bake, so you can place them pretty close together and fit more on your baking sheet.
- This recipe is a great way to use leftover cranberry sauce from the holidays, but you can also find cranberry jam at your local grocery store.
How To Store Leftovers
- To Store: Store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you’re going to stack the cookies, I recommend adding a piece of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent them from sticking to each other.
- To Freeze: After baking, flash freeze the cookies and then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag. They’ll keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What To Serve with Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies
- A warm drink: My favorite way to enjoy cranberry thumbprint cookies is with a comforting cup of tea, coffee, or hot cocoa to go with it.
- A cozy meal: These cookies are the perfect dessert to enjoy with a cozy winter meal, like sweet potato chili or chicken noodle soup.
- A sweet gift: An assortment of holiday cookies makes a thoughtful and affordable homemade gift! Pair cranberry thumbprint cookies with any of these 12 healthy gluten-free cookies and package them up in a festive tin.
Recipe Variations
- Fruit filling: Substitute the homemade cranberry sauce filling for your favorite flavor of jam, jelly, or fruit preserves such as strawberry or raspberry or even melted white chocolate.
- Chocolate: If you prefer chocolate desserts to fruity ones, these cookies would also taste amazing with any variety of chocolate or my easy homemade sugar-free Nutella spread.
- Extract flavors: This recipe uses vanilla extract, but you can use other types like almond or lemon extract to switch up the flavor. You can also use some orange zest on top if them or even a dusting of powdered sugar.
- Sugar: You can also use brown sugar, but if you do, your cookies will have a slightly darker color.
Frequently Asked Questions
These cranberry thumbprint cookies are very easy to make, but the dough can be crumbly and a little bit tricky to work with. Not to worry though! When you shape the cookie dough, it’s best to press it together rather than roll it. This will help the cookie dough stick together and keep its shape.
You certainly can! Cranberry thumbprint cookies are a great make-ahead recipe. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just be sure to store them in an airtight or freezer-safe container and put a sheet of parchment paper in between any layers.
The dough may crack when you press your thumb into it, but it’s an easy fix! To re-seal the cracks, you can smooth them out with your fingers, or gently pinch the dough together. It’s also totally fine to have a few cracks – the cookies will still look and taste amazing!
More Healthy Holiday Desserts
Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies
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Ingredients
- 6 tbsp butter or vegan butter
- 1/2 cup sugar or a natural sweetener you prefer
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
- ½ cup homemade cranberry sauce or sugar-free cranberry jam
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350˚F. Line one large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of a standard electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until it becomes fluffy. Then add the vanilla extract and whisk until well combined.
- Add ½ cup of almond flour at a time. Notice that the dough will be a little crumby, but it will stick when pressed together.
- After adding all the almond flour and everything is well combined, scoop about 1 tablespoon of the dough and shape it into balls. Make an indentation with your thumb into each ball. The dough will probably crack a little when you press your thumb into it. You can re-seal some cracks by smoothing it out with your fingers. But know that it’s totally fine to have a few cracks.
- Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until they are golden brown. The cookies will be very fragile when you remove from the oven. So, allow them to cool down for about 10 minutes before handling them.
- Fill each cookie with a 1/2 teaspoon of homemade cranberry sauce or cranberry jam. Enjoy!
Tips
- The cookie dough was adapted from the blog Wholesome Yum.
- To easily fill the middle of the cookies with cranberry sauce or jam, you can use a piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner cut.
- As the cookies will be soft and crumbly right out of the oven, let them fully cool before transferring them.
- These cookies do not spread a lot in the oven, so feel free to fit more on the baking sheet.
- You can use leftover cranberry sauce from the holidays, or a jar of cranberry jam from the grocery store.
- To store: Store the cookies for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
- To freeze: After baking, flash freeze the cookies before transferring them to a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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Allie says
When do you add the butter? There’s no mention of it in the instructions.
Allie says
You mention eggs in the instructions but not in the list of ingredients. Did you mean butter when you said eggs?
Olivia Ribas says
Yes, I meant butter instead of egg. Sorry about that. I just adjusted the recipe to clear further confusion. Thanks for pointing it out!
val says
Eggs missing from recipe, how many to use?
Olivia Ribas says
There isn’t eggs in this recipe. I meant butter instead of egg. Sorry about that. I just adjusted the recipe to clear further confusion. Thanks for pointing it out!
Paula Wisor says
These are great! But I found them really crumbly, so I added an egg WITH the butter already mentioned. Stayed together really well and came out delicious!
Olivia Ribas says
That’s great. Thanks for the feedback and let me know about the egg. Next time I’ll add an egg too 😉
Jane says
Can these be made with gf flour?
Olivia Ribas says
Yes it can.
Nicole says
Can you substitute coconut flour for the almond flour?
Olivia Ribas says
I believe not. Sorry.
Maria vilma Ribas says
Amo
Judy Johnson says
Thank you for creating this really great cookie recipe! Gluten free is especially appreciated. 🤗
Olivia Ribas says
You’re very welcome!
Mary Anne De Silva says
Mine flattened out…
I added the egg as one user suggested. But my cookie flattened and spread
Olivia Ribas says
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! To troubleshoot the issue, did you use the same ingredients and measurements as mentioned on the recipe card? Sometimes, variations in ingredient amounts or types can affect how cookies hold their shape. Additionally, if the butter was too soft, it could cause the cookies to spread more than desired. Let me know if I can assist further to help you achieve the perfect cookies next time!