"The people who give you their food give you their heart" - Cesar Chavez


Monday, February 22, 2010

Thumbprint Cookies with Strawberry Jam for Sarah's Birthday!

For my good friend Sarah loves everything raspberry and strawberry so I decided to make some strawberry filled thumbprint cookies for her birthday. These cookies are delicious and I remember the first time I made them as a kid with my mom; we used the Williams Sonoma Cookbook for Kids and they were super fun and easy to make. I found this recipe on the Joy of Baking website, a new site that I will definitely be frequenting more often now that I have an electric mixer. I was looking for a raspberry jam but unfortunately Trader Joe's was out, not surprising, so instead I found a fantastic strawberry jam with real chunks of strawberry. The wonderful thing about these cookies is how flexible they are, you can use a variety of nuts in the batter and any jam for the filling! It's hard to go wrong with these addictive buttery bites.

Thumbprint Cookies with Strawberry Jam
(Makes 40 cookies)

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup strawberry jam

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-4 minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and beat. Add the flour and salt and beat just until incorporated. Mix in the chopped walnuts with your hands or a spatula.
4. Roll the dough into ball about 1 inch wide and place on the baking sheet. With your thumb, lightly press down in the center of the ball to make an indentation. Fill the thumbprints with 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
15. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly golden and the jam filling has set. Let cool on a wire rack. ENJOY!

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