I hope you end up with a little leftover cranberry sauce this year! If you do, these cranberry thumbprint cookies are perfect for that last bit of cranberry sauce that didn’t get gobbled up. Does anyone else feel like one of the best things about Thanksgiving is the leftovers?
This year, I may just skip the traditional Thanksgiving plate, and go straight to the turkey, cranberry, and stuffing sandwich on a homemade roll. It really is my favorite!
When I made these cookies, I happened to have whole cranberry sauce on hand, so I gave it a quick pulse in my mini food processor to smooth it out a bit. I think whole or jellied cranberry sauce would work fine, depending on your personal preference.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, this is the perfect opportunity to tell you all how thankful I am for you! For the last few months, I have really poured myself into this place I call Lovely Little Kitchen, and I’ve felt so encouraged by you all along the way. Thank you for faithfully following me, liking me, pinning me, and most of all, making my recipes and taking the time to tell me how you like them. I feel like I have a big bunch of cheerleaders right alongside me and on the other side of this screen, and I love all the comments and feedback I’ve received. Whether you just happened upon this cookie recipe, or have been following me from day one, THANK YOU! I’m definitely feeling the love and I hope you are too.
Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies With Almond Glaze
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2.5 dozen 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Be sure to save that leftover cranberry sauce! You can use it to make these almond glazed shortbread cookies with a tangy cranberry center.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- On medium speed, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and almond extract, and mix well.
- Gradually add flour and mix until just combined on low speed.
- Roll into teaspoon sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Make a small indentation into the center of the ball, and fill with a small scoop of cranberry sauce.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on a cooking rack.
- Whisk powdered sugar and milk together until smooth and then whisk in almond extract.
- Pour the glaze into a small Zip-loc bag and cut of a small part of one corner of the bag. Drizzle glaze in a crisscross pattern over the cookies. The glaze will harden in 10-20 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 77
- Sugar: 6.7g
- Sodium: 28mg
- Fat: 3.3g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.1g
- Trans Fat: 0.1g
- Carbohydrates: 11g
- Fiber: 0.2g
- Protein: 0.9g
- Cholesterol: 14mg
Keywords: cranberry thumbprint cookies, almond glaze, shortbread cookies, leftover cranberry sauce, Thanksgiving leftovers
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
Hey Julie! I love this post! First of all, these cookies look amazing, I saw them a couple different places today and finally just got them pinned. So good! Let the cookie rush begin 🙂 I’ve also been pouring my heart into my blog lately, I felt like I could have been writing that exact paragraph! Have a happy Thanks giving tomorrow Julie!
Julie says
Hi Karen, just visited The Food Charlatan and it’s gorgeous! Thanks for stopping by and saying hi and happy Thanksgiving to you too!
Jillayne says
I’m so glad I found this! I’m in a mad rush to make cookies for our friends and neighbors and these fit the bill!
Julie says
Perfect! Glad you found them too!
pam says
I followed the directions but the cookies were very runny, so disappointed.
Sasha says
no baking soda or powder at all? Do they rise?
Julie says
Hi Sasha! They are more like a shortbread cookie – no baking powder or soda. They do get just a little bit of rise from the egg.
Jessica says
What kind of cranberry sauce did you use? Just canned sauce like what you would serve with turkey?
Julie says
Exactly! You can used jellied or whole berry.
Mali says
Can these cookies be frozen?
★★★★★
Amy says
I thought you might want to know that this pin is using your photos to make a long pinterest pin to feature on their site (linking back to you) but then they are pinning your images from their blog site to pinterest.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/119626933833667632/
I tried to report the pin, but you can only report a pin if you are the owner, so I thought I’d let you know, she is using your image and many others to promote her post on pinterest. Using the collage she made of all the cookies for the round-up is fine, but using all the other bloggers individual pictures to pin to her site/post is not cool.
hannah says
Would I be able to refrigerate the dough the night before and bake it the next day or would that change the cookie?
Julie says
That should be just fine Hannah. Enjoy!
Char says
How do you store these? And how long will they keep?
Julie says
I just keep them at room temp for a 3-4 days in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Tracey says
Can you freeze them?
Jeannette says
Hi! I tried this recipe yesterday and I absolutely LOVED it! I was wondering if there was a way to turn this into a chocolate version? Thanks I’m advance!
Alexia says
Hi!! So I am planning on making these for Thanksgiving this year, along with a bunch of other recipes because I always go all out during the holidays haha! Was wondering if it would be okay if I made this dough in advance and refrigerate?
Julie says
Yes, you can definitely make the dough ahead, wrap well, and refrigerate! Enjoy!
Alexia says
Okay perfect!! Thank you so much for replying to my comment and letting me know 🙂 I’m so excited to try these, will report back afterwards!!
Alexia says
Oh my goodness these cookies are incredible!! I made them for Thanksgiving today and honestly were one of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted! I made the dough in advance and I also made my own cranberry sauce and did that in advance as well! All my family members RAVED about these cookies today!! Thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
Lugene Deiotte says
These turned out to be so good! Love them and thank you for sharing…was going to post a picture of mine, but couldn’t find the attachment button to do so….
★★★★★
Julie says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Kelly says
Love this recipe, I switched it up and did different kinds of fillings as well! Just wondering if you can freeze these?
★★★★★
Carol Boroughs says
I’ve made this recipe for the past several years now and the only thing I do different is use cherry jam for the filling. If I ask my adult kids to pick their top 3 favorites this one is always on the list for both of them!
★★★★★
SC says
Delicious! I love these simple shortbread cookies. I omitted the glaze and went with gold-colored sugar instead because I was in a hurry. They look beautiful and are a tangy and fresh addition to my Christmas cookies.
★★★★★
Rhiannon says
This was a great way to use our leftover cranberry sauce! The glaze really sets them perfectly. Thank you so much for creating and sharing this recipe. We expect it to be a yearly tradition 🙂
★★★★★
Linda Mc says
Can these cookies be frozen?
Julie says
The cookies will be fine to freeze, but the glaze will be sticky when thawed, so glaze after freezing.
Kathy Ziegenmier says
Getting ready to make these and saw the comments about lack of baking soda /powder. Shouldn’t there be some salt and the dough? Seems like they would taste flat.
Mary A Wilhelm says
Do these need to be refrigerated because of the cranberry sauce