Lemon Blueberry Thumbprint Cookies with Blueberry-Lemon Glaze

Buttery, lemony shortbread cookies, filled with blueberry preserves and drizzled with a tangy blueberry-lemon glaze. Equal parts tart and sweet, these might be the best cookies ever. And think about the endless variations!

Seriously, the amount of changes you can make to this cookie recipe is limitless. You can change the fruit preserves and glaze (strawberry preserves and strawberry glaze would be super pretty for the holidays). You can also drizzle the cookies with melted white or dark chocolate instead of making the glaze. How amazing would they be with raspberry preserves in the middle and dark chocolate drizzled over top?! Somebody stop me!

Plus, this cookie recipe is incredibly easy to make. It's egg-free, so it's really about as close to shortbread as you can get. In fact, these remind me of my mom's shortbread Christmas cookies... seriously addictive.

I'm 100% confident these belong on your regular cookie-rotation. All year long.

Lemon Blueberry Thumbprint Cookies with Blueberry-Lemon Glaze 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup blueberry preserves, or any fruit preserve of choice
For the glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons blueberry preserves, or any fruit preserve of choice
2 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.
Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until blended.
Working with about 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, shape the dough into balls. Place the balls on the prepared pan, about 2 inches apart. Press your thumb into the center of each ball to create a shallow well. Fill each well with about 1/2 teaspoon of the blueberry preserves.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, blueberry preserves and lemon juice until smooth. Use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the cookies.
Cool until the glaze is set.
Makes 36 cookies