Spring and Easter Thumbprint Cookies
These Spring and Easter thumbprint cookies are as festive as they are delicious. A soft, chewy cookie baked to golden perfection is topped with pretty Spring and Easter sprinkles, and the thumbprint center is filled with pretty pastel candy melts!
Cookies are one of my favorite sweet treats to make for any holiday. A portable dessert so to speak.
When Easter Day rolls around it’s one of those holidays where people tend to walk while they snack. After all, we’ll be watching the kids hunt for Easter eggs, mingling, and generally milling about the entire day. Cookies are the perfect treat for a day like that because guests can simply grab them while they walk and talk. These cookies are an especially great cookie to make because they’re so easy and they have such a festive Springtime and Easter look.
Spring and Easter Thumbprint Cookies
These delicious, colorful cookies start with an easy, buttery cookie dough that bakes up so soft and tender. Then, they’re topped with pastel sprinkles that just say “Spring and Easter” Finally, I make a divot in the center and fill it with melted yellow and pink candy melts for an even more festive look. It all comes together to create simple, sweet, and delicious cookies that are as adorable as they are delicious. People won’t be able to keep their hands off of them!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It only uses simple ingredients that are easily found in your kitchen and your local grocery store.
- It’s so easy to make.
- It’s an incredibly festive and colorful cookie recipe.
- The cookies are soft, chewy, and so buttery.
Ingredients
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are kitchen staples that you most likely have in your kitchen right now. Anything you don’t have can be easily found at your local grocery store. The main ingredients are listed here, but you’ll find the complete ingredient list along with amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- 1 1⁄4 cup all purpose flour
- 1⁄4 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract, you can use regular or clear
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 cups Easter sprinkles
- Pink and yellow candy melts
Instructions
Making these cookies is a snap. The simple dough comes together quickly, and the rest of the recipe only takes a few minutes. Anyone can make these and get great results.
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Step 2: Combine the Wet Ingredients
Beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until combined in a stand or hand mixer.
Step 3: Add the Dry Ingredients
Gradually beat in the flour and salt until the dough forms.
Step 4: Make the Cookies
Scoop out the dough with a small cookie scoop and roll them into balls. Then, roll the dough into the Easter sprinkle and place it onto the cookie sheet. Make an indent in the center of the cookie dough ball using your thumb or the back of a spoon.
Step 5: Bake
Bake for 6 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden on the bottom. Check after 6 or 7 minutes. Let the cookies cool while you melt the candy melts.
Step 6: Make the Candy Center
Pour about 1 cup each color of the candy melts into their own piping bags or Ziplock bags and place into the microwave for about 20 seconds, take out, mush the bag around and put back into the microwave another 20 seconds. Do this until melted. Cut the tip off the piping bag or Ziplock bag and fill the cavity of the cookie with the melted candy melts Allow to harden. Enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
- Use different colored sprinkles and candies to make other holiday versions of these cookies. You can find sprinkles to fit Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and even Independence Day.
- If you don’t have unsalted butter, just use salted butter and omit the extra salt called for in the recipe.
- Try adding some almond extract for a lovely, nutty flavor.
Equipment
- Stand or hand mixer or hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Baking sheets/Cookie Sheets
- Parchment paper or silicone mats
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Piping bags or Ziplock bags
Storage
Room Temperature: Store for up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
Refrigerator: Store for up to 10 days in an air-tight container.
Freezer: Store for up to 3 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container in single layers separated by parchment paper.
What to Serve with Spring and Easter Thumbprint Cookies
These delicious cookies are perfect milk, coffee, or teat. You can also serve them with any of your other favorite holiday treats as part of a larger dessert spread at your Easter gathering. They go well with:
- Dessert dips
- Other cookies
- Dessert bars
- Cake
- Pie
- Cheesecake
- Candies
Tips
- Be sure to stop baking these cookies as soon as the bottoms begin to turn golden. It can be easy to overbake them if you’re not careful.
- For best results, add the melted candy center while the thumbprint cookies are still warm.
- Be sure your butter is fully softened for the best creamy and cookie texture.
FAQ
What kind of cookies are these Spring and Easter thumbprint cookies?
These cookies use a simple butter cookie recipe that’s made extra rich with heavy whipping cream.
What are thumbprint cookies?
Thumbprint cookies are any kind of cookie that’s baked with a depression in the center that’s then filled with chocolate, candy, or jam.
Why are my cookies dry?
You may have used too much flour. It’s easy to use too much flour if you scoop it directly with your measuring cup. Instead, spoon the flour loosely into your measuring cup and level it off with the flat of a knife.
More Cookie Recipes
If you’re a cookie fan, then be sure to give these recipes a try.
- Chocolate Sweetheart Peanut Butter Cookies
- Shortcut Chocolate Chip Peppermint M&M Cookies
- Copycat New York’s Famous Levain Bakery’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Spring and Easter Thumbprint Cookies
These Easter Thumbprint Cookies are a festive treat that is perfect for your holiday dessert table. Shortbread style cookies, rolled in colorful sprinkles, and then filled with candy make up this easy dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, I used fine sea salt, kosher salt is good to use too
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/8 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, you can use clear vanilla extract too
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 cups Easter sprinkles
- Yellow and pink candy melts
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
-
Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy whipping cream until combined
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Gradually beat in the flour and salt until a dough forms
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Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out some dough and roll into a ball
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Roll the cookie dough into the easter sprinkles and place onto the cookie sheet
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Make an indent into the cookie using the back of a teaspoon or your thumb
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Bake for about 6-10 minutes or until lightly golden on the bottom. Check after 6 or 7 minutes
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Allow to cool while you melt the candy melts. Pour about 1 cup each color of the candy melts into their own piping bags or Ziplock bags and place into the microwave for about 20 seconds, take out, mush the bag around and put back into the microwave another 20 seconds. Do this until melted
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Cut the tip off the piping bag or Ziplock bag and fill the cavity of the cookie with the melted candy melts
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Allow to harden. Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoy these beautiful and delicious Spring and Easter Thumbprint Cookies.
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