Swedish Fika
We have talked a lot about Danish culture on this blog, particularly the word “hygge.” If you want to learn more, check out our blog post: “‘Hygge’ – Not Just For The Wintertime!” However, we have not had the chance to talk much about Sweden and its cultural peculiarities! What better place to start than with the word fika? Fika is, in a more literal sense, a coffee break in the middle of the day. However, in reality, it is much more than that. In many ways, it actually connects to Danish hygge, as it is more of a concept. Not only do you have a coffee and a piece of cake, but the most important aspect involves spending time with friends, chatting and connecting. It gives you a chance to slow down and enjoy the moment, sharing a coffee and a sweet treat with friends or colleagues. Many work places make time for fika and it actually appears to improve productivity!
Cookie Origins
So, why mention fika in today’s post? Well, these traditionally Swedish cookies are the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon cup of tea or coffee! This type of cookie is popular in many countries, from Scandinavia to America to Australia. They are known as hallongrottor, or raspberry caves, in Swedish. This is a name that fits this cookie perfectly – a buttery and crumbly vanilla cookie dough filled with delicious and tart raspberry jam. In America, these are called “thumbprint” cookies, as you use your thumb to create the indentation for the jam. In Australia, they are known as jam drops. Regardless of what you call them, they are so yummy and one of the easiest cookies to bake!
Recipe
If you ever need to whip up something sweet in a hurry, this should be your go-to recipe. It could not get any easier! These cookies are even easier than our recipe for havregrynskager, and that’s saying something. All you have to do is whip together your butter and sugar, add in your vanilla and dry ingredients. Mix this together until a dough forms, then shape into balls with a spoon and your hands. Use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie and fill these with jam. Bake until lightly golden and enjoy! They are crumbly but have an amazing texture and the tartness of the jam creates the perfect balance with the sweetness of the cookie. It seriously doesn’t get any better! Leave us a comment below if you try it out.
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Hallongrottor (Swedish Thumbprint Cookies)
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 113 grams (1 stick, 8 tbsp) softened butter
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 140 grams (1 cup + ~3 tbsp) all-purpose flour
- 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
FILLING
- Storebought or homemade jam of your choice (raspberry recommended – here is our recipe)
Instructions
- 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, and baking powder 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 a bit soft at this point, you can put the dough 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.
- Using your thumb, make an indentation in each ball, flattening out the center of each cookie and making room for the jam.
- 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 or so minutes.
- Spoon the jam into the indentations. We aim to fit about 1/2-1 teaspoon of jam in each cookie.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until very lightly golden on the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to help them set. Enjoy!
Delicious, light, airy, buttery cookies recipe. When I added two teaspoons of vanilla, I was scared because my batter smelled very alcoholic! But there was nothing to worry about, the alcohol baked off in the oven, and the vanilla essence left behind was divine. I used mix of raspberry and strawberry jams, and I’m thrilled with the result. Thank you for the amazing recipe! I can’t wait to try other recipes on this blog.
Hi Bethany! Thank you so much for the lovely comment. I’m so glad the cookies turned out well!! Thanks for trying out our recipe and looking forward to seeing what other recipes you try out!
Absolutely fresh, and easy recipe.
Thank you!! So happy you enjoyed the cookies 🙂
Hello ,
Can I store these without refrigeration? How long is the shelf life?
Yes, you don’t have to refrigerate them but should store them in an airtight container and eat them within a few days (3-5 days). They won’t go bad but they will start to taste stale the longer you leave them out! You can probably refrigerate them if you want them to last longer but it’s not necessary if you are going to eat them within a couple of days.
I used to make these years and years ago, first time was when I was still at school. I left school 30+ yrs ago. We called them jam buns. Can be found in the Be-Ro cookbook.
Yes, there are so many variations of this cookie in different countries! They are absolutely delicious 🙂
I just made these and they completely melted/spread out on the cookie sheet and became one large flat cookie. Any thoughts on what happened??
Hi! Sorry they didn’t turn out right 🙁 It could be a few different things! Possibly the temperature of your oven – we use a convection (fan) oven but if you are using a conventional/regular oven you will need to increase the temperature. It could also just be that the butter or dough was a bit too soft, so it can help to put cookie dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes to help it hold its shape better. We will add this into the recipe in case anybody experiences the same issue as you! Thanks for your comment and we hope you give it another try 🙂
This is truly the best recipe for “thumbprint” cookies. I live in Minnesota although not native born. This recipe is so similar to the delightful ones served at Christmas time at The Swedish Institute here in Minneapolis. I also like the idea of a small batch and small cookies. I am not a fan of the huge American version. It gave me the opportunity to make half raspberry and half fig. As I am a man with larger thumpers, I used the flat mend of my bar muddled and the spoon end was perfect for the filling size. Just a suggestion for those with larger digits. Thanks again.
Thank you for your comment, we are so glad you enjoyed the recipe! The fig sounds great, we will definitely have to try that! Using a bar muddler sounds convenient for consistency, great tip 🙂
the cookie (singular because they all spread out and turned into one piece) came out raw on the inside but burned on the outside
Hi – so sorry it didn’t go to plan! There could be many reasons for them spreading. There is a chance that you may not have added enough flour – we would always recommend weighing out your flour as this is more accurate! For this recipe, chilling your cookie dough in the fridge before shaping and baking the cookies can also be helpful. Also, a reminder that we use a convection (fan) oven, so if you use a conventional oven, you may need to increase the temperature by about 10 degrees C – this could also prevent the cookies from spreading in the future. Thanks for trying out our recipe and sorry again that it didn’t turn out as you had hoped!
Hi there. I was searching how to make Danish open sandwiches and found your lovely site. Will definitely be trying out your rye bread recipe but in the meantime your Thumbprint cookies are great. I wrapped the dough in clingfilm for about 30 mins making it really easy to slice discs I rolled into balls and made the indent with the end of a pestle. The recipe made 16 uttterly butterly little biscuits filled with homemade raspberry/blueberry jam. My kitchen is cold and I had to warm the mixer bowl to amalgamate the ingredients but my advice would be to chill a very soft dough to harden the butter to stop it spreading out. Loved how mine turned out and the comments of individual experiences are really useful. Your recipe will be a favourite for sure. Thank you for sharing it. Sue 😊
Thank you so much for trying our recipe and leaving a comment, we are glad you enjoyed it!! And great tips for future recipe users as well, we appreciate it! Do let us know if you make the rye bread!
These were beautifully light and tasty. I had no caster sugar, so I used soft brown instead. Thank you for a lovely egg-free treat!
So happy to hear that they turned out delicious. You are very welcome and thank you for using our recipe and leaving a comment! Very much appreciated 🙂
Just wanted to chime in and suggest a helpful tip to prevent the cookies spreading: place and bake the cookies in a muffin tin/pan. I made rhubarb caves for the first time recently and this was the method in the instructions. It resulted in a lovely thick cookie that didn’t spread. 🙂
That’s a great tip! Thank you 🙂
Is the cornstarch 15 gms,please ? Can we use cornflour instead?
Yes, 1.5 tbsp is around 15 grams! Yes, cornflour is called cornstarch in American English. They are the same thing, if you mean the starchy and white powder that helps thicken sauces. Corn flour (with the space) is different, it’s flour made from corn and that would not be very good if added to this recipe, haha. Hope that helps!
absolutely love!
Thank you! 🙂
These are literally so good that i’ve made it 4 times by myself and twice with my friends. i added cinnamon to my dry ingredients to pair with the raspberry filling and shaped the hole the filling would look like a heart.
That is so great to hear – cinnamon sounds delicious! Thanks for leaving this very lovely comment and for using our recipe! 😊
I haven’t tried making these yet but these look delicious! Curious as to how I can make these into shapes for Christmas instead of just circles. Thank you!
Hi! Thank you 🙂 And thanks for your question! I think that would be difficult because the dough has a lot of butter in it so it doesn’t usually hold any shape well in the oven, but one idea I do have is shaping them by hand into stars with a bit of jam in the middle. I suspect it will be a bit of a trial-and-error process though, because they might just spread into round cookies anyway. If you do try the recipe let us know how it goes though!