Austrian Husaren Krapferl or Austrian hazelnut thumbprint cookies are the ultimate holiday treat; when you’re craving a little comfort, they are the ideal treat! Bake up a batch of Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies just like Grandma used to make with this easy and delicious recipe!
Whether you have your family near at the holidays or have to video chat for Christmas, it’s the season of craving homemade comforts. Bake up some comfort and joy for the holiday or any time of year with this sensational cookie recipe! You will love everything about this recipe, especially:
- Inviting Austrian Sweet - Sharing a taste of home is my favorite, and this beautiful recipe is brought to you by my grandmother. You will love sharing it with your loved ones, too!
- Easy Cookie Recipe - These are made the old-fashioned way, by hand. That means there are no special tools needed!
- Rocking Raspberry Flavor - The taste of berries and almonds coupled with the divinely textured dough makes these cookies a true show-stopper!
- Great All Year - Thumbprint cookies are a holiday must, but they taste great when made in the summer with fresh-picked berries!
🥘 Ingredients
Cake Flour - Cake flour's light texture and low protein content result in a magically lighter-than-air cookie that is almost too easy to eat! You can substitute it for all-purpose flour, but this will affect the texture slightly and make for a more dense cookie.
Baking Powder is a common leavening agent that will help these delectable sweets rise! If you do not have baking powder, mix equal parts baking soda and cream of tartar to make a suitable substitute.
Powdered Sugar - Every cookie needs a little sweetness and there is no better way to introduce some sugar to this cookie than powdered sugar! It is made with extremely fine sugar and trace amounts of cornstarch. This awesome combo leads to a soft and almost melt-in-your-mouth texture in the cookies.
Vanilla Sugar - Vanilla sugar is a wonderful treat that combines vanilla's woody and smooth flavor with a little sweetness. You can find it at some grocery stores, but my favorite way to get this ingredient is with this easy recipe for Homemade Vanilla Sugar!
Ground Hazelnut - The final flavorful touch in this cookie dough is a hint of ground hazelnut. This adds nuttiness to the texture and flavor and makes for an even more exciting pairing of nuts and fruit!
Egg Yolks - Although splitting eggs might seem like a senseless waste, there is a science behind this baking trip. The egg yolk contains all the fat in the egg, and the white has the protein, so using just the yolk adds richness without adding extra toughness.
If you hate to waste the whites, don’t despair! Use up your egg whites in one of the wonderful egg white recipes found below!
Butter - Use creamy unsalted butter in this recipe to bring the luscious buttery flavor and texture to every chewy bite!
Egg White - Save one egg white to brush the cookies with. Brushing with egg white will add a glossy sheen to the finished cookies, making them even more irresistible!
Almond Slices - The baked almond slices create a sensational crunch and delightful marzipan-like flavor. Plus, they make the cookies look like adorable treats straight from a bakery window! Use plain slivered almonds to add texture, flavor, and style to these tasty sweets!
Raspberry Jam - Store-bought or homemade raspberry jam will work for this recipe; however, the bounty of seeds in these berries can make for a really seedy jam. Save yourself from getting seeds stuck in your teeth by running the jam through a sieve before using it.
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
Step One - Sift together the flour and baking powder.
Step Two - Make a dent in the center of the flour and add the remaining ingredients in order.
Step Three - Working from the center, quickly knead everything into a smooth dough.
Step Four - Chill the dough for at least half an hour.
Step Five - Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to scoop the dough and then shape the dough into balls.
Step Six - Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet and make use of your thumb to indent the center of each ball.
Step Seven - Brush them with egg white and sprinkle with almond slivers.
Step Eight - Use a teaspoon or a piping bag to fill the indentation with raspberry jam.
Step Nine - Bake on the bottom half of the preheated oven until golden and delicious.
Step Ten - Allow them to cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
🥜 Make it Gluten-Free!
Do you want to make your thumbprint cookies gluten-free? Then replace the cake flour with two parts gluten-free flour plus 1 part gluten-free starch flour and one binder.
Gluten-free flours: Buckwheat, amaranth, millet, quinoa, almond, soy, chickpea.
Starch flours: Potato, rice, corn, whole wheat
Binders: chia seeds, flax seeds, locust bean gum, guar flour, tapioca flour, agar-agar, eggs, gelatin.
🍑 Variations
- Apricot - A wonderful way to bring some spring to these cookies is by replacing the berry jam with apricot jam. It looks lovely and tastes even better!
- Cranberry - Make a nice holiday rendition of these cookies with sweet cranberry jelly instead of the traditional raspberry. I especially like the holiday jam with cranberries, pears, and raspberries!
- Currant - Give these cookies an exotic and delicious flavor by swapping the raspberry jam for red currant jelly.
🍽 Equipment
Hand or Stand Mixer - If possible, with a paddle attachment. The flat paddle is a stirrer attachment that pulls the ingredients in from the edge of the bowl while some of them pass through the holes and are thus thoroughly mixed.
Mixing Bowls - One or two medium to large mixing bowls will be just right to weigh and mix all your ingredients for these tasty cookies.
Sieve - Nobody wants seeds in their jam so use a sieve to strain out the unwanted raspberry seeds before adding the fruit to the cookies.
Table Spoon or Cookie Scoop - I always have three different cookie scoop sizes at home - 1 tablespoon / 0.5 oz, 2 tablespoon / 1 oz, and 3 tablespoon / 1.5 oz. The 1 tablespoon cookie scoop is the one I use most often. Baking times and cookie quantities are adjusted to this size. If you prefer larger cookies, feel free to use the larger sizes. Just keep in mind here that the baking time will increase, and the number of cookies will decrease.
Pastry Brush - To make these cookies glossy and delicious, you will want to brush them with egg white. Grab a clean traditional or silicone pastry brush for this task.
Piping Bag - A piping bag or a teaspoon is ideal for filling the thumbprint cookies with yummy jam!
Baking Sheets with parchment paper - A parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet is the right choice for this bake.
Cooling Rack - A wire cooling rack will help the cookies cool down so you can enjoy them even sooner!
🌡 Storage
It's best to store these delicacies in an airtight container. They stay fresh and delicious for up to two weeks.
💭 Top tips
- Ideally, the dough is kneaded by hand, but it also works with a stand mixer with a dough hook.
- The piping bag is a way easier way to fill a big batch of cookies, but if you don't have one, snip a corner off the bottom of a plastic bag and attach a piping tip, and voila! You made the perfect makeshift piping bag!
- This recipe has so many easy uses for the leftover egg whites. Remember, they are best if used within three days of cracking.
🙋🏻 FAQ
Sadly, they are not. These cookies contain eggs, wheat, and nuts, all common allergens.
Making the swap from cake flour to gluten-free might seem simple, but it can have a big impact on the texture; therefore, it can be done, but it might take some experimenting before you nail the right ratio of gluten-free flour and what type to use.
You can use butter-flavored shortening or margarine instead of butter as an even swap.
🥚 Leftover Egg White Recipes
Use those leftover egg whites for creating one of these amazing dessert recipes!
If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it by ★★★★★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. This would be awesome! You can also sign up for our Newsletter or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @combinegoodflavors and hashtag #combinegoodflavors, so I don't miss it.
📖 Recipe
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies with Almond Slices and Ground Hazelnut
Equipment
- Sieve
- Tablespoon or cookie scoop
- Pastry brush
- Baking pan
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Cake Flour
- 1 pinch Baking Powder
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Sugar
- ½ cup Ground Hazelnut
- 3 Egg yolk
- 8 oz Butter can be substituted with margarine.
- 1 Egg white for brushing
- 1 ¼ cups Almond slices for sprinkling
- ½ cup Raspberry jam for filling
Instructions
- Mix 2 ½ cups Cake Flour and 1 pinch Baking Powder and sift into a large mixing bowl.2 ½ cups Cake Flour, 1 pinch Baking Powder
- Make a dent in the center and add the remaining ingredients in order (1 cup Powdered Sugar, 1 ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Sugar, ½ cup Ground Hazelnut, 3 Egg yolk, 8 oz Butter in pieces).1 cup Powdered Sugar, 1 ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Sugar, ½ cup Ground Hazelnut, 3 Egg yolk, 8 oz Butter
- From the center, quickly knead everything into a smooth dough. (Ideally, by hand, but it also works with a stand mixer with a dough hook.) Leave to rest in the refrigerator for ½ hour.
- Cut out small pieces from the cold dough with a tablespoon and shape into balls.
- Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and make an indent in the center with your thumb.
- Brush with 1 Egg white and sprinkle with Almond slices (1 ¼ cups Almond slices should be enough for all those cookies).1 Egg white, 1 ¼ cups Almond slices
- Then, using a teaspoon or (easier) a piping bag, fill the raspberry jam (½ cup Raspberry jam) into the indentation.½ cup Raspberry jam
- Bake on the bottom half of the preheated oven, top and bottom heat at 190 degrees for 13-17 minutes.
- Let cool on a wire rack. Then, store in a cookie tin lined with greaseproof paper.
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
⛑️ Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For further information, check Safe Food Handling - FDA.
Andréa says
I loved the cookies. They're buttery, soft and nutty and the filling with jam is just perfect. And because they're easy to bake, I'm sure I'm going to make them more often!
Nora says
Thank you, Andréa! I am so happy you liked them! 🙂
Jean says
Wow the texture of these look so amazing. Can’t wait to try!!
Nora says
Thank you, Jean! Let me know how they turned out for you!
Helen says
I love thumbprint cookies. The almonds on there are like an added bonus!
Nora says
Thank you Helen! Yes, the almonds really develop their flavor during baking!
Alexandra says
These are the most perfect and delightful cookies - I used homemade raspberry jam and followed the recipe exactly. I will definitely be making them again for my festive cookie box!
Nora says
Thank you, Alexandra! I am so happy you liked them so much!
Mina says
Perfect for tea time! I love it!
Nora says
Thank you, Mina!