Strawberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies Recipe – Sweetened with Dates

How These Cookies Came to Be

This strawberry jam thumbprint cookies recipe was the answer to lowering my kids’ chocolate consumption.

My kids are chocoholics, no doubt about it. I’ll admit that there is a maternal history of chocoholism in their family line, so they come by it naturally. And chocolate is just plain addicting for anyone, after all.

But, painful as it may be, it is necessary and beneficial to take breaks from chocolate sometimes – or at least lower the daily consumption – especially when it comes to kids. Even when they are eating homemade chocolate treats that do not contain processed sugar, the caffeine can be problematic for sleep and behavior when it is consumed in excess.

Not that I’m trying to bash chocolate, heaven forbid! My kids and I thrive on the joy of various chocolatey treats, like our favorite date-sweetened Chocolate Chunk Cookies or our other healthy favorite: Healthy Chocolate Cookies.

But I can imagine that you might find the need to scale back on the chocolate consumption in your house at times, the same as I do. And while I know that nothing can replace chocolate, these lemon thumbprints are a pretty amazing sweet treat, caffeine-free substitute for it.

That is the inspiration that motivated me to create the recipe for the best strawberry thumbprint cookies. I needed more treat options that my kids would actually eat and enjoy that did not contain caffeine. And since my kids are both a little obsessed with jam (flashback to when my toddler was found scooping jam out of a large jar with her bare hands and stuffing her face), strawberry jam cookies with a lemon twist were just the healthy cookie to hit the spot!

So whether your kids are chocolate-lovers like mine in need of a detox, jam-lovers needing a fix or tart-lovers who scarf down anything lemony, these easy lemon cookies might be just what they need!

What You Should Use These Cookies for

What is the ideal use for these cookies, you may ask? Well, there are a lot of occasions for which these cookies would be the perfect non-chocolate treat.

These thumbprint cookies would be a great addition to any kid’s summer birthday party! With their tart lemon flavor, sweet jam filling and all natural sweetener these cookies would be a refreshing and healthy baked good to serve a group of overheated, hyper kids who probably don’t need any extra processed sugar.

Or, use this strawberry jam thumbprint cookies recipe as a guilt-free special treat to offer your kids when they eat a good, healthy meal. You could even take these on a spring or summer picnic with your kids. Having a tangy-sweet dessert at hand is great motivation for kids to eat a good lunch.

You could even take these to the beach as a treat you don’t have to worry about melting in the heat.

But just because these sunny-sweet lemon jam cookies make a great warm-weather treat doesn’t mean they aren’t also great in the colder months of the year. The warm strawberry jam flavor balances out the lemony tartness, which makes for a wonderfully warming treat on cold days.

A thoughtful use for these jam-filled delights during the fall and winter would be to stick one or two of them in your child’s school bag for a comforting snack to remind them of home.

Alternatively, make these while your kids are at school so they are ready to be eaten fresh out of the oven when they get home from school. The neighborhood kids will also appreciate your efforts in the kitchen.

Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with how or when you make these lemon thumbprint cookies for your kids.

Ingredients

• Medjool Date Paste: Dates are one of nature’s best, healthiest sweeteners! Full of health benefits and deliciously sweet, they make the perfect sugar substitute when pureed. Medjool dates are the best because they are softer and sweeter than other dates. Use my date paste recipe here.
  
  Alternatively, you can use store-bought date paste and add hot water to soften it since it is more dense than homemade. See note in the recipe card for measuring and softening instructions.

• Butter: Butter is a key ingredient in baked goods because it helps to prevent them from becoming dense or dry. I usually use organic or Irish grass-fed butter.

• Egg: Eggs add a bit of protein for nutrition and they are essential for binding the ingredients together. Any eggs will work, but I prefer to use farm-fresh eggs when available. Otherwise, I use organic and/or cage-free eggs.

• Lemon Extract: Lemon extract is the star of the show in the lemon cookie dough portion of this healthy jam cookie recipe, providing that bursting, fresh, citrus flavor.

• Flour: I use organic, unbleached flour, but any all-purpose flour will work.

• Baking Powder: Just a smidge of baking powder – preferably aluminum-free – gives the cookies the slightest rise.

• Salt: Salt helps to enhance the amazing flavor in these tasty cookies.

• Collagen Powder: Optional collagen adds a little protein to the cookie along with many other health benefits of collagen. I love the Mama Natural collagen powder because it features six different types of collagen. That is more than most other collagen brands can boast.

• Homemade Strawberry Jam: My homemade strawberry jam recipe is free from processed sugar and is an essential topping on these kid-magnet lemon jam cookies.

Instructions

Step 1

Make the date paste. If you do not know how to make date paste, don’t worry. It’s extremely easy! Make my no-fail date paste recipe ahead of time to keep in the fridge for easy use on baking days or whip some up quick and easy when you are ready to make the cookies.

If you want to use store-bought date paste, see my note in the recipe card for measuring and softening it.

Step 2

Mix the softened butter and date paste with an electric hand or stand mixer until fully combined. The mixture will be creamy if your butter is soft and your date paste is cool. If your date paste is still warm from cooking, it might melt the butter and the creamed mixture will be thinner, but this will still work just fine for making the thumbprint cookies.

Step 3

Add eggs and lemon extract. Mix until combined.

Step 4

Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and collagen and mix until fully combined.

Step 5

Roll the lemon cookie dough into 1 1//2 inch balls. Flatten the centers with your fingers so that you have about 1 ½ inches of hollowed-out space in the cookie with thick, ½ inch tall edges.

Step 6

To each of the centers, add 1 teaspoon of homemade strawberry jam.

Step 7

Bake cookies in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 13 minutes. To check for doneness, lift a cookie to make sure the bottom is browned.

Substitutions & Tips

• For a different twist on these thumbprint cookies, you could replace the lemon extract with vanilla extract.

• If you do not wish to make your own date paste, you can purchase it from a Middle Eastern grocery store or order it online. Keep in mind that you will need to soften up store-bought date paste with hot water since it is more dense than homemade.

• You can use store-bought jam for the filling if you want these to come together quicker.

• Store these cookies in a single layer or with parchment paper between them to prevent the jam centers sticking to one another.

• Don’t overfill the centers. It might look like you can squeeze more in, but you will end up with a messy cookie overflowing with jam.

• Check the cookies 8-10 minutes into their bake time and turn the trays around and/or switch racks so they cook evenly.