Autumn or Fall?

To start this post off with something only slightly related to the actual recipe – do you prefer calling it autumn or fall? I’m very partial to autumn now that I’m living in the UK because first, British people tend to say autumn, not fall, and second, it just sums up the season better than fall does. Something about the dreary melancholy of a gloomy and rainy day is best expressed in the word autumn rather than fall. What about you? Any staunch defenders of the word fall out there? Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that today’s recipe is one of those classic autumn/fall recipes, one that makes you feel super cozy, and one that you’ll want to make every year from now on.

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Apple thumbprint cookies on a wire rack.

The Inspiration Behind the Recipe

Despite the Swedish name, this is not a classic Swedish recipe, although there are a few other baking blogs out there who had the same idea as us. But Swedish thumbprint cookies, called hallongrottor or “raspberry caves” and filled with raspberry jam, are a classic. And it’s one of our most popular recipes on the blog! So, we took that beautiful recipe and thought why not give it an autumnal twist? I’m also certain that there are several of you out there reading this that have an overflow of apples right now, so the apple butter in this recipe will help relieve you of some of those. Keep reading to find out more about this type of cookie and how you can make this recipe at home.

Apple thumbprint cookies with cinnamon icing.

Apples and Cinnamon

Nowadays, many people think that pumpkin is the classic autumn flavor, but we still love the humble apple. Pumpkin is almost just a vessel for moisture in a baked good and doesn’t contribute much flavor, while apples actually seem to become more flavorful when you bake or cook them. Combine apple with cinnamon and a few other spices, including the Scandi favorite cardamom, and the taste conjures up images of leaves turning red and orange on a crisp fall day.

Apple thumbprint cookies on a piece of parchment paper.

Other Thumbprint Cookie Variations

Now, this is our latest in thumbprint cookie innovations, but what else can we come up with? One inspired by skoleboller, with coconut and vanilla pastry cream, would be undoubtedly delicious. We could easily do a marzipan and nougat (the soft chocolate and hazelnut kind) version around the holidays. Or even one inspired by risalamande! God, that would be very fun to make. Any other ideas out there? What’s your favorite filling for a thumbprint cookie? Let us know in the comments, or if you have any good ideas for us!

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the dough, you’ll need softened butter (this is very important!), sugar, vanilla extract, plain or all-purpose flour, cornstarch (cornflour in the UK), baking powder, salt, and cardamom. The cardamom is optional but we love adding a dash for even more autumnal flavors, and the apple butter is usual more cinnamon-heavy, so this adds a nice floral touch. The cornstarch is there to give the dough a really tender texture when it’s baked, but you could replace it with potato starch or just regular flour if you don’t have any. For the filling, you’ll need apple butter – we have a recipe here that makes the perfect amount – and you can use storebought if that’s easiest. If you’re in the UK, look for “apple spread”, that’s usually close enough. The topping is simple: icing/powdered sugar, water, cinnamon.

How to Make Apple Butter Thumbprint Cookies

These look easy, and they are, but there are a few steps that can trip you up. First, you need butter that is soft but hasn’t melted, or else your dough will be too soft and will melt when baked. Mix this with the sugar and vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients separately, then add these. Gently mix until no dry spots remain and the dough has the texture of Play-Doh. If it’s too soft, add a tablespoon of flour. Shape the dough into balls and press down with your thumb (or a spoon) to make indents big enough for the filling. You can put the dough in the fridge before or after shaping it into balls; again, you don’t want these to spread much so you should keep the dough cool. Spoon the filling in, bake, and decorate with cinnamon icing to bring out all the autumn goodness!

Äppelgrottor (Apple Butter Thumbprint Cookies)

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Featuring tender vanilla shortbread cookies with a spiced apple butter filling, this is a bite of autumn in a cookie!

Servings servings

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

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IMPORTANT NOTE:

We always bake using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and milliliters). We can’t promise that our cup measurements will be as accurate! Additionally, we bake and develop our recipes in a convection (fan) oven.

Ingredients

DOUGH

113 grams softened butter
50 grams sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
140 grams all-purpose flour
1.5 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cardamom

FILLING

Storebought or homemade apple butter (here's our recipe) of your choice

ICING

Powdered sugar
Cinnamon
Water

Instructions

If making homemade apple butter, be sure to follow our recipe and leave some time for cooling down!
Preheat your convection (fan) oven to 390 degrees F (200 C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whip the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand with a whisk.
Add the vanilla extract and mix.
Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and cardamom in a separate bowl and whisk/mix together so there aren't any lumps.
Add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/vanilla mixture and mix together (very low speed with the paddle attachment, or using a spoon/spatula by hand) until no dry spots remain. The dough should come together easily and be sort of a play-doh consistency. If it's feeling sticky, you may want to add another tablespoon of flour.
If the dough is getting really soft at this point, you can put it in the fridge for about 10-20 minutes before shaping the cookies. We would also recommend this if it is warm in your kitchen or you are making these in the summertime!
Divide the dough into 12 even balls and spread them out evenly on the baking sheet. Now you may have to warm up the dough a little bit in your hands to prevent cracking when you press them down in the next step. It's a delicate temperature balance!
Using your thumb, make an indentation in each ball, flattening out the center of each cookie and making room for the apple butter. If the cookie is cracking a lot, re-roll the ball so it's a little bit warmed up in your hands and try again. You can also press together any bigger cracks with your fingers!
If you notice that your dough is softening/looking shiny, now is also a good time to pop the cookies in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
Spoon the apple butter into the indentations. We aim to fit about 1/2-1 teaspoon of filling in each cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until very lightly golden on the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to help them set.
Optional but highly recommended: after the cookies have cooled, make a simple cinnamon icing by adding about 1 cup of powdered sugar, a few dashes of cinnamon, and a splash of water to a bowl. Mix together until you have a thick but drizzle-able consistency.
Drizzle over the cookies and enjoy!