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Christmas Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies, with Buttercream Icing, are colorful, sweet, buttery shortbread thumbprint cookies, covered in red and green sprinkles and topped with either red, green, or white buttercream frosting!
Make a batch of these Christmas Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies and get ready for a holiday party to break out.
They are so cheerful and colorful and delicious that they will instantly get everyone in the mood for a festive holiday party! This is probably my favorite of all the Cookie Recipes!
What Makes These Cookies So Good?
They are made with love, and sprinkles! 🙂 Sprinkles make everything better, and put a smile on everyone’s face! How could you not be happy if you have sprinkle-covered shortbread cookies around?
When I was a kid, during the holidays, my older sister would bake up a storm, and make lots of different types of cookies. However, her shortbread cookies were the best! They were sweet and buttery and delicious!
These shortbread thumbprint cookies bring back such good childhood memories. Anyway, I learned to make them from her and have been baking them every holiday season for years!
How To Make Christmas Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
Equipment
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- KitchenAid Stand Mixer – A necessity for every baker.
- Hand Mixer – Perfect if you don’t have a lot of counter space and can store it away when not using it.
- Mixing Bowl Set from Amazon.com - A basic necessity when cooking or baking.
- Cookie Sheet Set – A basic necessity that bakers and cooks use all the time.
- Silpat – If you do a lot of baking, then this is a must.
- Spatula – A basic necessity for every baker or cook.
- Whisk from Amazon.com - The whisk is a necessary tool for use in making many recipes.
- Measuring Cups from Amazon.com - Be sure to use the measuring cups designed for liquids for liquids only and not for dry ingredients for the most accurate measurement.
- Measuring Spoons from Amazon.com - I keep several sets of measuring spoons on hand so I have them when I need them and they are not in the dishwasher.
Ingredients
Below I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions in case you don't have a specific ingredient on hand. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.
Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
- Butter
- Sugar
- Flour
- Vanilla
- Red and Green Sprinkles
Buttercream Icing
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk
Directions
Scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one, as well as detailed instructions.
- Make the Cookie Dough.
- In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar.
- In the vanilla and beat some more.
- Mix in the flour until the cookie dough comes together.
- Roll the Cookie Dough into Balls.
- Roll the dough into 1/2-inch balls.
- Roll the dough into 1/2-inch balls.
- Roll the Cookies in Sprinkles.
- Roll the balls of cookie dough in the sprinkles.
- Place the cookie dough on a parchment covered cookie sheet.
- Make Cookie Indentations and Place on Cookie Sheet.
- Using the back of a teaspoon, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.
- Using the back of a teaspoon, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.
- Freeze the Cookie Dough
- Place the cookie sheet with the UNBAKED cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking.
- Bake the cookies
- Bake the cookies in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 12 to 14 minutes.
- Bake the cookies in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 12 to 14 minutes.
- Make the Icing
- Beat the butter and sugar and vanilla.
- Add just enough milk to get the right consistency.
- Color the Icing
- Divide the icing evenly between 3 bowls.
- Stir in green food coloring into one bowl, red food coloring into a second bowl, and NO food coloring into a 3rd bowl.
- Refrigerate the Icing.
- Refrigerate the icing for about 10 minutes.
- Cool the Cookies
- Cool for 10 minutes on a baking rack.
- Ice the Cookies
- Spoon in or pipe in the chilled icing in the center of the cookies.
Recipe Tips
- Use Real Butter. Real butter is the key. I don’t recommend using margarine. The butter provides the best flavor and texture.
- Refrigerate the dough. Don’t skip this step. Refrigerating the dough before baking will help prevent the cookies from spreading.
- Small Cookie Dough Bites. Roll the cookie dough into balls that are on the small side. This will also help prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
- Frosting Ratios. When you add the red and green food colors, you will need to add a lot of color, especially for the red, to get that bright red color. Sometimes the liquid in the food coloring thins out the icing too much. If this happens, add in more powdered sugar to offset it and get the icing back to the right consistency.
- Freeze The Frosting. Before icing the cookies, freeze the buttercream frosting for about 10 minutes to make it a little more firm and easier to pipe.
Cookie Variations
These cookies are so versatile that you can make them all year long. Below are a few ideas of how you can tweak the recipe for more events.
- Birthday. Use multi-colored sprinkles with white icing, or use the favorite colors of the person celebrating a birthday.
- Baby Shower. Use pink or blue sprinkles and pink or blue buttercream frosting depending on whether the baby is a boy or girl.
- Academy Awards. Serve these cookies for an Academy Awards watch party. Use gold sprinkles with white frosting.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- How Do I Prevent The Cookies From Spreading?
- As I mentioned above in the recipe tips, be sure to refrigerate the cookie dough before baking.
- In addition, don’t make the cookies too large. Keep them fairly small and roll the dough tightly to prevent spreading.
- How Do I Prevent The Frosting From Getting Too Thin?
- If the food coloring makes the frosting too thin, just add more powdered sugar to compensate and keep adding until you get the right consistency.
- Secondly, freeze the frosting for about 10 minutes before piping in the cookies.
- Can I Make These Cookies Ahead of Time?
- Absolutely! The easiest way may be to bake the cookies with the sprinkles ahead of time and then pipe the icing in the cookies shortly before serving. You can make the icing ahead of time too and refrigerate until shortly before you are ready to pipe the frosting on the cookies.
- How To Store Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies?
- The buttercream frosting may get messed up a little, but you can stack the cookies. I recommend placing a piece of wax paper between each cookie if you stack them. You can store them in an airtight container, preferably in one layer, if possible. If not, place wax paper between layers.
- Can I Freeze These Cookies?
- Yes! First, you can freeze the dough before baking the cookies. If you do, I recommend freezing the dough before rolling in the sprinkles. You can easily roll the cookie dough in the sprinkles just before baking.
- Secondly, you can freeze the cookies after baking. I would recommend freeze before frosting and just pipe in the icing shortly before serving. However, you can freeze the cookies with the frosting. If you stack them, I recommend placing a piece of wax paper in between the cookies.
What To Serve With These Cookies
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Christmas Cowboy Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Pecan Shortbread Cookies
- Pumpkin Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies
- 25 of the Best Holiday Cookies
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Recipe
Ingredients
Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- red and green sprinkles (I used jimmies)
Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- red and green food coloring
Instructions
Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), add the butter and sugar and beat together until it is smooth. Pour in the vanilla extract and beat until it is mixed well throughout the dough. Mix in the flour until the cookie dough comes together.
- In a shallow bowl add colored sprinkles. (Can be red, green, or multi-colored.)
- Roll the batter into 1/2-inch balls, roll in the sprinkles, and place on a cookie sheet.
- Using your thumb, or the back of a teaspoon, press the center of the cookie to make a circular indentation. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 12 to 14 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a baking rack.
Buttercream Frosting
- In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar together until smooth.
- Mix in the vanilla. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk, as necessary to get the right consistency of the icing.
- Divide the icing into 3 bowls. In one bowl, add enough drops of red food coloring and stir until you get a Christmas red color. (This may require a lot of food coloring.) If the frosting gets too thin after adding food coloring, stir in more powdered sugar until it is back to the correct consistency.
- In the second bowl, add a few drops of green food coloring until you get a bright green color. Do not add any food coloring to the third bowl. It will remain white.
- Spoon, or pipe in, about a teaspoon of icing into the center of each cookie, alternating the red, green, and white colors so 1/3 of the cookies have red icing in the center, 1/3 have green icing in the center, and 1/3 have white icing in the center of the cookie. (Should be about 1 dozen of each color.) Place the cookies on a platter to serve.
Video
Meredith W. says
These tasted great! Real buttery and sweet. Just what you want in a Christmas cookie. I found that I needed A LOT of sprinkles to get a decent coverage. The buttercream was so tasty! These little guys DEFINITELY need to be in the fridge for a solid 10 minutes. I got lazy and took them out after 5 and they spread.
My only “complaint” is that the directions don’t tell you when to add the flour. Obviously if you are baking, you know you need to add it in the beginning. But maybe add that ingredient in the directions.
Michele says
Hi Meredith,
I’m so happy you liked the cookies. Thanks for sharing your experience making them. Also, thank you for letting me know about the flour. It does state in the text of the blog post about when to add the flour, and now thanks to your comment, I have added it to the recipe card as well to fix that oversight.
Thanks,
Michele