I love making Christmas cookies. One of my favorites are thumbprint cookies. I was anxious to make them this year since I had made and canned five different flavors of jam this summer. After a lot of debating I filled the thumbprints with spiced peach jam, blueberry lime jam, and raspberry mango. I made half of them with nuts and half without.
There were mixed reactions to the nuts. I personally thought that the cookies looked better with the nuts on them, but they tasted better without. My husband really enjoyed the addition of nuts. I had several people ask me to make these for them this holiday and they were split on the nuts as well. I did find that the favorite jam flavor with peach, followed by blueberry.These cookies are buttery and almost melted in my mouth. The jam gives a great contrast in flavor and texture to the cookies. The thumbprints not only taste wonderful, but they are pretty as well and perfect for gift giving.
Thumbprint Cookies with Jam(adapted from Martha Stewart)
1 c. butter (2 sticks)
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. almonds
1/2 c. jam
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and mix well. Whisk together the flour and salt and add to the bowl, beating on low until well combined.2. In a food processor chop the almonds with 2 tablespoons of sugar and process until everything is finely chopped.
3. In a small bowl beat the egg whites. For the dough into 1 inch balls. Dip the balls into the egg whites, roll in the almonds, and put on a baking sheet. Press your thumb into the middle of the dough, making a dent.4. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and push your thumb into the indentation. Fill the center of each cookie with a teaspoon of jam and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.
This post linked to:
We love thumbprints, too. My family is made up of purists who won't let me use any jam but strawberry. It's too bad, because the others have such a nice color. I love the variety on your plate.
ReplyDeleteThumbprints are one of my favorite cookies that I've actually never made before! I love that all the ingredients are simple :) Thank you for sharing & looking forward to making them!
ReplyDelete